CITY CLERK. Court Services Division Implementation Status Report. (City Council on October 1, 2 and 3, 2002, adopted this Clause, without amendment.

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1 CITY CLERK Clause embodied in Report No. 12 of the, as adopted by the Council of the City of Toronto at its meeting held on October 1, 2 and 3, Court Services Division Implementation Status Report (City Council on October 1, 2 and 3, 2002, adopted this Clause, without amendment.) The recommends that Council: (1) request the Associate Chief Justice, Office of the Chief Justice, to reconsider his decision with respect to the elimination of night court operations in Toronto to ensure access to justice for the residents of Toronto; and (2) reiterate its request to the Province that per diem JPs be made available in the City of Toronto to assist with the Provincial Offences Act prosecutions. The reports, for the information of Council, having: (1) received the report (June 6, 2002) from the Commissioner of Corporate Services respecting the Court Services Division Implementation Status report; and (2) requested the Commissioner of Corporate Services to submit a report to the on the outcome of the discussions with the Province regarding the future of the (ICON) computer system which administers the Provincial Offences Act payment, court scheduling and administration activities. The submits the following report (June 6, 2002) from the Commissioner of Corporate Services: Purpose: To report on the Court Services Division s progress with its new responsibilities relating to court administration and court support function for proceedings commenced under Parts I, II and III of the Provincial Offences Act (POA). Recommendation: It is recommended that this report be received for information.

2 2 Financial Implications: This report contains no changes to the 2002 budget. Discussion: At its meeting of July 24, 25 and 26, 2001, City Council approved the assumption of court administration and additional prosecution duties under the Provincial Offences Act from the Ministry of the Attorney General. This report provides Members of Council with the status of the transfer in four key areas Court Facilities, Staffing, Financial and Activity Profile, and Operational Issues. (1) Court Facilities: The Ministry operated from four sites within Toronto that were transferred on a phased basis between January 28 and February 25, (a) Toronto East: Initial plans to open a new city court in Toronto East had to be revised in late December 2001 when the lease for the previously identified site could not be finalized. In order to meet the February 11, 2002, transfer date, the administration office and public counter were relocated from the provincial site to 1530 Markham Rd. Arrangements were made with the Ministry of the Attorney General to continue using court rooms at 1911 Eglinton Avenue East until October 2002, allowing the City to find alternative premises. Staff recommended, and Council has recently approved, the use of 1530 Markham Road as the Toronto East courthouse. A report recommending approval of a contractor for the renovation of 1530 Markham Road was adopted at the May Administration Committee meeting and upon Council approval in June, construction will commence. Staff anticipate the Scarborough facility will be operational in the late fall of Upon completion, the Toronto East service district courthouse will be located entirely within 1530 Markham Road. (b) Toronto South: Due to lack of space at Old City Hall, the administrative office and public counter with intake courtrooms was opened at 137 Edward Street on the February 25, transfer date. A head-office site at the same location was opened on March 25, Trial courts will continue to be held at the Old City Hall for the foreseeable future. Accommodations for courtroom clerks, municipal prosecutors and cashiers are also in place at Old City Hall.

3 3 (c) Toronto West: The City assumed the lease for the existing courthouse located at 2265 Keele Street. Due to space limitations and the condition of the building at this location, staff have looked at alternative sites. As part of the Master Accommodation Project staff and members of the judiciary have visited York Civic Centre and determined that it is a suitable permanent site for the Toronto West courthouse. At this point, staff are developing a project plan and consulting other current users of the York Civic Centre to determine how public services will continue to be provided at this site. It is anticipated that renovations to this site will commence in the Fall. (d) Toronto North: (2) Staffing: The City assumed the lease for the existing courthouse located at 47 Sheppard Avenue East. The terms of the transfer agreement allow the City to use these premises for no longer than 24 months from the date of transfer (January 28, 2002). The Province intends to renovate these premises for other Provincial court related purposes once the City vacates the area. Staff are looking for replacement space within the North service district and will report on its findings. In keeping with the program s net revenue goal, capital expenses have been funded from the Court Services Stabilization Reserve. Preliminary indications suggest that funds to support the program do exist within in the reserve and state of good repair budgets. Confirmation of costs related to the future use of York Civic Centre will be available shortly. Court Services adopted a transitional staffing plan that provides the Division with the flexibility needed as it moves forward with its business plan. The Ministry had best efforts obligations towards its employees and the City offered positions to sixty-five Ministry staff impacted by the transfer. Human Resources staff worked with the Ministry, involving both CUPE and OPSEU during the transition. In order to staff operations during the initial start up period, Human Resources processed over 1,500 employment applications submitted by City of Toronto employees and external applicants. Court Services staff will be completing a workflow analysis across all offices to confirm procedural practices and to ensure consistent processes are in place, particularly in front-line public service areas and will finalize its staffing activity based on the deployment of a consistently applied set of procedures and expectations.

4 4 (3) Financial and Activity Profile: (a) Pre-Transfer Revenue: The Memorandum Of Understanding provides the City with net revenue from January 1998 to the actual date of transfer. Provincial staff provided an early estimate of $52.8 million, of which the city pre-expensed $38.5 million and assigned the remaining $14.4 million for court capital purposes. The table below shows that provincial audit results for are higher than estimated. As preliminary information for 1998 was provided by the Province during the 2002 budget discussions, an additional $1.5 million was allocated as part of the 2002 budget. Provincial officials have informed the City that the final audit work should be completed this summer at which point the City will be in a position to finalize pre-transfer revenue calculations. Staff have also been informed that it is likely the final audit for 2001/2002 will reflect a lower net revenue position than the first three years due to additional costs incurred by the Province during the pre-transfer period. The City has received full payment for 1998 revenue, and payment for 1999 and 2000 is expected to be received shortly. Year Estimate (millions) Actual (millions) Difference 1998 $14.7* $15.4 $ $13.2 $15.1 $ $13.2 $14.1 $ $13.2 Audit not completed Total $54.3 *Includes $1.5 million allocated in Upon receipt of final figures, staff will report on the subject of pre-transfer revenue with recommendations on the allocation of any unallocated amount as part of the budget process. (b) Post Transfer Revenues: Court Services was transferred with the expectation it would generate net revenue, although the net value could not be determined with any accuracy until after the first year of operation. For 2002, net revenue of $1 million dollars has been budgeted. The phased court openings earlier this year, large one time set-up related costs and provincial charges for services provided require staff to closely examine expenditures and revenues to determine the normal revenue and operational expense patterns. Whereas expenditures can be planned, the revenue derived by the program is a direct result of Provincial offences enforcement activity. Any departure from normal enforcement action can have an impact on the revenue received within a period. Staff are continuing to closely assess revenue and expenses, and will report variance issues as part of the budget process.

5 5 (4) Operational Issues: Transfer experiences in other municipalities indicated that the City would face a series of transition and/or operational issues. In the majority of cases, immediate transitional matters were accommodated through negotiations with the Ministry and/or other involved parties. The Division currently faces four significant longer-term issues: (1) Separate Municipal and Provincial Prosecution of Certain Offences. Under the current legislation certain offences may only be prosecuted by provincial prosecutors. For police scheduling and other reasons, it has proved impractical to separately schedule these cases upon transfer. This has resulted in both municipal and provincial prosecutors being in attendance at hearings where both Part 1 and 3 offences are scheduled. Under the Memorandum of Understanding, the municipality is obliged to reimburse the province for the cost of their prosecutors. The Ministry has indicated that it is presently unwilling to support changes to the legislation, and staff discussions to establish a single prosecutor have proven unsuccessful. Court services and legal staff are examining scheduling options to determine if an operational solution is feasible given the position adopted by the Province. (2) Ensuring Sufficient Judicial Resources are Available: Ensuring the Ministry of the Attorney General provides sufficient Justices of the Peace has been consistently identified as a critical element in the City s ability to effectively operate the Provincial Offences Act program. Discussions with the Judiciary indicate that there are fewer Justices of the Peace currently available to Toronto than a year ago. The recent announcement by the Judiciary to close night courts beginning in 2003, in part due to availability of Justices of the Peace, raises new operational issues. The City has raised its concern regarding the announcement and a meeting with the judiciary to discuss this item is to be scheduled. The Chief Administrative Officer has also asked the Ministry of Attorney General to support the appointment of additional Justices of the Peace in order that the needs of the Provincial Offences Court program can be met. This issue also continues to be of significant concern to other Municipalities, and recent comments from the Ministry have suggested that some resolution to this issue is forthcoming. (3) Computer System Replacement: The City is obliged to utilize, on a per ticket fee, the Provincially managed computer system (ICON) which administers the Provincial Offences Act payment, court scheduling, and administration activities. The ICON system is

6 6 Conclusion: dated and lacks flexibility. Staff have requested a meeting with Provincial officials to determine what plans are in place for either the continuation or replacement of their system. In 1993, the former Metropolitan Toronto invested, for similar reasons, in a Parking Tag Management System (PTMS) to improve administration of the Part 2 (Parking tickets) Provincial Offences Act matters following an earlier provincial transfer of responsibilities. The efficiencies gained by PTMS for the Part 2 infractions, plus the many procedural similarities between these and Parts 1 and 3 offences, argue strongly for the City to proceed with an enhanced internal system capable of managing all Provincial Offence Act activities. Funding has been allocated in the Court Services Stabilization Reserve to complete enhancements to the application. (4) Unpaid Fine Collection Strategy: Upon transfer, all Municipalities were given the opportunity to collect and retain revenue relating to unpaid fines that had accumulated prior to transfer. Staff were informed by the Province that Toronto POA courts had approximately two-hundred million dollars in fines that were outstanding. Subsequent to the transfer, and as a result of the two month long provincial strike, staff have only recently received summary data that outlines the age of these fines, including a breakdown by fines, fees, costs and victim fine surcharges. Some of these fines date back to 1973 and are largely un-collectable without investing significant resources or use of third party collection support. The data provided indicates that of the $184 million dollars outstanding, over $26 million dollars is returnable to the Province, and over $130 million dollars has been outstanding for over two years. Those Municipalities that have assumed POA responsibilities ahead of Toronto have commented that the majority of pre-transfer receivables are not likely to be paid having already been distributed to private collection agencies by the Province in recent years. Staff will review the status of these old fines, examine what enforcement action is currently in place or can be taken and will provide its recommendations. A number of municipalities have proceeded to adopt in-house and third party collection practices to improve the fine payment rate. Staff will present its recommendations on a collection strategy after consulting with other City departments and other Municipalities and upon determining a cost effective approach to addressing this matter. In summary, the Provincial Offences Act transfer was successfully completed on schedule and preliminary figures suggest that unless significant, unidentified costs are incurred, or a departure in enforcement activity occurs, revenue will approximate the 2002 budget. Data is being collected to establish an annual budget in support of the 2003 budget process. Court Services Division faces several issues that will influence the long-term efficiency of the program. Staff

7 7 have had an opportunity to discuss early program results with other Ontario municipalities and are proceeding with a work plan that focuses on improving public service, remedies some of the inherited program inefficiencies, and includes an effective fine collection approach. As part of the transfer, the Provincial government has invited Municipal partners to engage in discussions that can streamline activities. This phase of the agreement begins in September and staff are preparing to participate in these discussions. Contact Name and Telephone Number: Barry Randell Director, Court Services brandel@city.toronto.on.ca The reports, for the information of Council, having also had before it a communication (September 8, 2002) from Mr. Alan Burke, President, East Beach Community Association advising that it has recently come to the EBCA (East Beach Community Association) attention that Associate Chief Justice Donald Ebbs has eliminated night court in Toronto; that the EBCA has very strong concerns about this; that people are being denied access to the courts because for small fines it is not practical to dispute them since the lost wages or vacation time will be more than the fine; and urging the to pass a motion to strongly suggest that Associate Chief Justice Ebbs reconsider his decision to eliminate night court in Toronto.