Page 1 of 8 Update: City of Toronto Review of Mayor s Task Force Report Item 8 May 5, 2016 Building Investment, Finance and Audit Committee Report: To: BIFAC:2016-75 Building Investment, Finance and Audit Committee (BIFAC) From: President and Chief Executive Officer (Interim) Date: May 5, 2016 Corporate Goals: Quality Homes: Improved building conditions delivered through an effective and efficient capital repair program, resident engagement and community based planning Replacement of aging buildings and strengthened communities through revitalization and renewal projects in select neighbourhoods Business Foundations: Financial sustainability PURPOSE: This report provides the Committee with information about the work the City team reviewing the recommendations from the Mayor s Task Force is doing and the support Toronto Community Housing Staff are providing. RECOMMENDATIONS: That this report be received for information. REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS: At the March 24 Board meeting the Board approved a method of reporting on the City s review of the Mayor s Task Force recommendations which was that information about
Page 2 of 8 the recommendations would be presented to the committee that had that area in their mandate. City Review Team The City Manager assigned responsibility for this work to the Deputy City Manager for Cluster A, Giuliana Carbone. The Deputy City Manager has assigned Chris Brillinger, Executive Director of Social Development, Finance and Administration, as the accountable staff lead. He has formed a review team consisting of Todd Orvitz, a Policy Development Officer from his team, and Margie Carlson, one of the staff people who supported the Task Force during its tenure. The TCHC staff team meets weekly with the City review team and discusses the consultation and provides information based on requests. They have advised us that the focus of the first report to Council, scheduled for the June 28, 2016 Executive Committee meeting, will be on the five central ideas to be found in the executive summary of the Task Force s final report on pages four and five. They have regularly asked TCHC staff for detailed information and we are providing that to them as available and appropriate. The questions that the review team provided to us in early March are in Appendix A. This report lists the questions that relate to the mandate of the Committee. Spring Directions Report The City review team has told us that the directions report will be looking at the five central ideas identified in the executive summary of the final report from the Mayor s Task Force Transformative Change for TCHC; A report from the Mayor s Task Force on Toronto Community Housing. The five central ideas are: Transition to a new community-based non-profit housing corporation Create mixed-income communities Better buildings and more of them Decentralize operations/strengthen partnerships Reform the rent geared to income (RGI) system The review team has also confirmed that the directions report will make recommendations in these areas about what work should be done to develop implementation recommendations, the criteria and outcomes that would drive those recommendations and who should be involved in their development. Specific Task Force Recommendations The Executive Leadership Team held an all-day meeting on April 19 to review and discuss the five central ideas. The updates in this report reflect this discussion. The City review team and the ELT met on April 26 th so that ELT could provide input into the process.
Page 3 of 8 The following recommendations fall within the scope of the BIFAC Committee mandate. Below you will find the recommendations, related questions that TCHC staff have received from City staff, and a status summary of any work done and/or information provided to the City review team to date. Recommendation 1: That the City facilitate TCHC s transition to a community-based non-profit housing corporation, taking into consideration the two models outlined in this report. 1. What are the legal, financial, labour, and operational impacts to transfer TCHC to a community-based non-profit? 2. What are the outcomes, drivers and challenges, in TCHC's view, of a portfolio rationalization? What is TCHC's opinion on how best (process) to accomplish this goal? What parties will participate in this process? 3. What are the current unions that TCHC is working with? 4. How many employees are approximately included within each of the unions with which TCHC has a collective agreement? 5. What are the current terms of all existing collective agreements with unions? 6. What are the current by-laws, articles, etc. that limit or contribute to a potential change to the TCHC Board? 7. What are the risks and benefits to TCHC if the City were to divest control in TCHC? 8. How would an increase in borrowing/debt limits affect TCHC? How would this affect the quality of life of tenants? 9. What alternative frameworks for Board appointments has TCHC considered? What are the risks/benefits of any such models? 10. What are the advantages and disadvantages of both the Manage Now and Reform First option? 11. What are the financial or business impacts on TCHC's ability to secure (or the need to guarantee) any loans? Status summary: Staff have done preliminary work to explore the costs and implications of transitioning Toronto Community Housing to a community-based non-profit corporation. Major potential risks involved in a non-profit transition include increased costs of borrowing if the new organization s debt is not guaranteed by the City, and issues with staff morale and attrition resulting from another major organizational change. At this juncture, based on initial analysis, the ELT believes that the City should seriously explore alternative solutions that would help achieve these objectives through simpler means, as per the motion by Councillor Bailão at the January 28 Executive Committee meeting. For example, City Council could pass a motion to increase TCHC s borrowing limit. Political interference could be minimized through changes to the Shareholder Direction to strengthen the Board s mandate. Current and future
Page 4 of 8 efforts to improve customer service, including the implementation of the recommendations related to decentralization, are a more direct and immediate means of improving the quality and consistency of service to residents. Finally, the City could sign contracts with TCHC to complete development projects for the City of Toronto and other non-profit housing providers without the need for structural change. Given the availability of feasible alternatives for accomplishing the same objectives, the ELT feels that the significant monetary and operational costs of transitioning to a non-profit outweigh the potential benefits. Please note that this is a current position only, and may evolve as we learn more about the City s process and objectives, have the opportunity to undertake further analysis, and hear more from residents through the City s public consultation process. This recommendation also proposes the option of splitting TCHC into three divisions development, operations and corporate services. The ELT does not support this option. The successes of TCHC s Revitalization and capital repair programs rely on deep integration and coordination with operations and corporate services. We believe this change would result in an increase in organizational silos, making planning and operations more challenging and ultimately less successful. Better integrated planning and service delivery is one of our key 2016 objectives, and the recent hiring of a Chief Operating Officer, as recommended in the Mayor s Task Force interim report, is helping us achieve this. Recommendation 2: That the City, in consultation with TCHC/NewHome, oversee a portfolio rationalization process that includes an analysis of the portfolio to determine what is reasonable to renovate, those that should be demolished and replaced, perhaps with higher density, or those that should be sold. Also, properties will need to be reviewed to determine who is best to operate the buildings and provide the most effective service to tenants. 1. What sites has TCHC identified for future development? Revitalization? Reset? 2. Does TCHC have any performance measures in place to evaluate its revitalization and capital repairs work? We have provided them with the criteria we have used to identify sites for Reset which was also provided to the Mayor s Task Force. We have provided them with the performance measures we provide to the Board.
Page 5 of 8 Summary of work to date: Toronto Community Housing has done reviews of the portfolio in the past to determine opportunities for revitalization which are dependent on market conditions, the need for capital repair and operational needs. Recommendation 6: That the City request the Province to make the necessary legislative changes to support income-mixing in public housing and that the City and TCHC renegotiate TCHC s rent geared to income targets to facilitate a transition to a more mixed portfolio reducing the current 90% Rent Geared to Income household numbers, over time, to 70%, without reducing overall the City s commitment to RGI level subsidies for low-income tenants. 1. Are the assumptions underlying the proposed financial/operating model realistic? If not, are there adjustments that could be made to achieve the desired outcomes? E.g. how long will it take to get to a 70/30% mix and what factors need to be taken into consideration to get there? What alternatives are available to address the $60M funding gap brought about by the social housing social assistance rent scales? What options are available to address the outdated utility allowances under the HSA? 2. Are there any buildings/geographic regions where an income mix is not feasible? Are there any policies reasons that limit TCHC's ability to implement an income mix (70/30)? 3. What are the social outcomes achieved by income mixing? Is this grounded in existing community service models? 4. Is 70/30% the best mix? What is the minimal ratio necessary to make the finances work? Status summary: We continue to work with a team of staff from Infrastructure Ontario, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the City to develop a financial model that will be able to show the impact of different initiatives such as moving to 30% market units. That model is still under development and we have been providing the team with financial information. The Province of Ontario has indicated that income-mixing will be allowed through their announcement on the update to the Long Term Affordable Housing Strategy. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has developed draft changes to regulations to allow this change. We are reviewing to determine what portion of RGI units could be converted to market units and have not yet responded to question 2. We have said that to the best of our knowledge there are no definitive answers to question 3. The answer to question 4 will be informed by the work being done on the financial model.
Page 6 of 8 Recommendation 7: That the Province consider ways to help reduce TCHC s energy burden and that TCHC update its energy efficiency strategy to include portfolio-wide incentives or programs for tenants to conserve. 1. What are options for improving tenant conservation and for reducing TCHC's energy consumption? We have discussed generally the constraints built into the three sets of legislation that govern this and the requirements of Toronto Hydro and the Affordable Housing program. We have indicated that we have had some success in energy consumption reduction through behavioral change in the past. Status summary: This recommendation around energy conservation is directed to the Province. They have announced one-time capital funding for energy conservation projects. We have a significant number of energy conservation projects that can be implemented quickly if funding is made available. Recommendation 10: That the City continue to look at revenue and/or debt-related financial tools to help fund social housing including the removal of TCHC from the City's balance sheet. None. This is directed to the City to identify debt and revenue tools to help fund TCHC including removing TCHC from the City s balance sheet. We continue to work with the City on the possibilities for mortgage refinancing. Recommendation 12: That TCHC undertake an aggressive building program to support the goals of income mixing, energy efficiency, managing capital repairs and increasing affordable housing options for low and moderate income people in Toronto. That TCHC explore the possibility of combining affordable homeownership as well as affordable rental in some new or fully renovated buildings. This can be done on its own and/or in collaboration with the non-profit or private sector. To support this new aggressive building program, we further recommend that all three orders of government provide a range of new or existing tools including (i) capital grants or loans, (ii) debt guarantees, (iii) tax and fee waivers, (iv) streamlined approvals and (v) donations or preferential sale of surplus public land.
Page 7 of 8 1. They have not asked any questions but the team is consulting with supportive housing providers to get their opinions on the recommendations. Status summary: This recommendation is to undertake an aggressive building program. This recommendation is dependent on the results of the financial modelling and capital grants. So far the level of available grants nor new mortgage debt from the federal government is not large enough to support this program. Recommendation 13: That the City and TCHC along with community non-profits and/or private sector partners, give early attention in an aggressive building program to the provision of more accommodation for seniors, including seniors-only facilities. None. Status summary: This recommendation is to Toronto Community Housing and asks us to consider providing more accommodation to seniors if we undertake an aggressive building program. Projections show that there will be a significant growth in the seniors population within TCHC. Recommendation 23: That TCHC/NewHome examine the services provided by the OCHE to explore mandate changes that would offer wider and earlier service to any tenant at risk of eviction for rent arrears. None. Status summary: This recommendation asks Toronto Community Housing to consider expanding the mandate of the Commissioner of Housing Equity to provider wider and early service to tenants. The mandate for the Commissioner was recently clarified after a Council motion recommending TCHC review the mandate. This will come back to the Board for review this year as part of the review mandated in the OCHE s Terms of Reference. Recommendation 25: That the City continue to pursue the 2015 Federal budget item, on TCHC s behalf, to allow for mortgage refinancing without penalty on remaining high interest CMHC mortgages. None Status summary: This is a recommendation to the City to engage in intergovernmental work to get agreement for TCHC to refinance the high interest rate
Page 8 of 8 CMHC mortgages without penalty. This has been supported by both the City and TCHC. We continue to work with the City to engage CMHC on this issue. IMPLICATIONS AND RISKS: The City process to review the Mayor s Task Force report is highly likely to have transformative impacts on Toronto Community Housing in the medium and long term. In the short term, our 2016 workplan is relatively unaffected, with the exception of devoting some staff resources to supporting the City s process. As this is an externally led process, there is a risk that the outcomes may not reflect a full understanding of the organization and its staff and residents. We are mitigating this risk by providing information and advice to City staff, particularly regarding consultation of residents and staff. SIGNATURE: Greg Spearn Greg Spearn President and Chief Executive Officer (Interim) ATTACHMENT: 1. Appendix A: Questions from the City review team STAFF CONTACT: Hugh Lawson, Director, Strategic Planning and Stakeholder Relations 416-981-4216 Hugh.lawson@torontohousing.ca