DATE: October 17, 2012 REPORT NO. CS2012-140 TO: FROM: PREPARED BY: Chair and Members Finance Committee Darryl Lee General Manager of Corporate Services Darryl Lee, General Manager of Corporate Services Trudy Belanco, Manager of Corporate Policy and Management Practices 1.0 TYPE OF REPORT CONSENT ITEM [ ] ITEM FOR CONSIDERATION [ X ] 2.0 TOPIC Municipal Intelligent Service Delivery Review and Draft Taxpayer Bill of Rights Public Consultation Results 3.0 RECOMMENDATION A. THAT Report CS2012-140 providing the results of the comprehensive Intelligent Service Delivery Review and Taxpayers Bill of Rights public consultation program BE RECEIVED; and B. THAT the Survey results and findings BE PROVIDED to the City s Estimates Committee as a reference document during their 2013 Operating and Capital Budget deliberations; and C. THAT Staff BE DIRECTED to prepare a revised Taxpayer Bill of Rights for consideration by the City s Estimates Committee based upon the input received during the public consultation program; and D. THAT Staff BE DIRECTED to make the results of the public consultation effort widely available within the municipality.
Date: October 17, 2012 Page 2 4.0 PURPOSE Report CS2012-140 provides Members of the Finance Committee with the results of the comprehensive public survey undertaken during the months of August and September 2012 with regard to the City s Intelligent Service Delivery Review and draft Taxpayer Bill of Rights document. 5.0 BACKGROUND At the April 18, 2012 Finance Committee meeting, public consultation on both the Taxpayers Bill of Rights and Intelligent Service Delivery Review resolutions was discussed and a Task Force was recommended and subsequently adopted by City Council on April 23, 2012 as follows: Taxpayers Bill of Rights Resolution Intelligent Service Review Resolution Update A. THAT a Finance Committee Task Force BE ESTABLISHED consisting of Mayor Friel, Councillor Carpenter, Councillor Utley and Councillor Kings to establish a process and the parameters for public consultation for the Taxpayer s Bill of Rights resolution and the Intelligent Service Delivery Review resolution; and B. THAT a report BE BROUGHT to the May 28th, 2012 Committee of the Whole Retreat. Meetings of the Task Force were held in May and June 2012, which resulted in the following resolution being presented to the Finance Committee on June 13, 2012 and subsequently adopted by City Council on June 18, 2012: Taxpayers Bill of Rights, Intelligent Service Delivery Review and 2013 City of Brantford Operating Budget Consultation Task Force A. THAT the Draft public consultation document and survey respecting current City of Brantford Municipal Services and the Draft Taxpayers Bill of Rights attached hereto and marked as Appendix "A" BE APPROVED; and B. THAT Staff BE DIRECTED to undertake a comprehensive public consultation process through the months of August and September, 2012 to gather public input into both the City's current structure of Municipal services and the 'draft' Taxpayers Bill of Rights document; and C. THAT the public consultation process include, but not be limited to: the provision of an on-line consultation and survey document through mybrantford.ca print media
Date: October 17, 2012 Page 3 posting of the consultation and survey documents on the City's website input from community service organizations and agencies provision of a comprehensive media briefing document input from the City's Boards and Advisory Committees availability of the consultation document and survey at all municipal facilities and Public Library branches the use of social media by including links to the consultation documents on all City sponsored Facebook pages attendance of Staff and Members of the Finance Committee at scheduled Ward meetings, as requested by the Ward Councillors D. THAT Staff Report back to the Finance Committee during the month of October 2012 with the results of the public consultation process in advance of Council's consideration of the City's 2013 Operating and Capital Budgets; and E. THAT Staff BE DIRECTED to schedule two public Open Houses during the month of December to gather input into and to educate the public with regard to the City's draft 2013 Operating Budget. As directed by City Council, public consultation occurred during the months of August and September 2012. This Report presents the results of those public consultations. It is important to identify the Members of the Staff Working Group charged with the responsibility of carrying out this comprehensive public consultation initiative: Trudy Belanco Charlene Touzel Debby Read Virginia Kershaw Scott Hall Cathy Brubacher Darryl Lee Manager of Corporate Policy and Management Practices Deputy City Clerk/Manager of Legislative Services Manager of Administrative Services, Finance Department Council and Committee Services Coordinator Manager, Corporate Information City Treasurer, Director of Finance General Manager of Corporate Services 6.0 CORPORATE POLICY CONTEXT The comprehensive public consultation program undertaken to gather input into the City's current service structure and Taxpayers Bill of Rights aligns very well with three of the Long-Term Desired Outcomes of the City of Brantford's Community Strategic Plan.
Date: October 17, 2012 Page 4 Those Long-Term Desired Outcomes are as follows: Brantford citizens will be engaged in and informed about, their community and their City government. The City of Brantford will be known for its open and accessible government. Brantford will be recognized as a fiscally responsible and well-managed City that provides efficient and effective government services. Based on the excellent response to the public consultation program it is quite evident that Brantford citizens are very engaged in and informed about their community and City government. 7.0 INPUT FROM OTHER SOURCES Section 8.1 of this Report outlines in detail the consultation process utilized in this initiative. The findings outlined in this Report represent feedback from 1033 respondents to the Survey that was provided in both electronic and paper copies to the Brantford community. 8.0 ANALYSIS 8.1 Consultation Process The Staff Working Group implemented a comprehensive Communication Plan to reach as many City of Brantford residents as possible. The following list provides a high level overview of the key components of the Consultation Plan and Strategy. A. Print Newspaper ads in Expositor Civic News section (twice) Posters at all drop off locations (14 City facilities, banks, grocery stores, downtown businesses) Business cards for easy reference to online survey (distributed to 14 City facilities, downtown businesses, banks, Members of Council, Members of Boards and Advisory Committees, service counters) Envelope Promotion on Water/Sewer Bill (mailed to 40,000 homes/businesses) Mayor s Column in Brantford Expositor Press Releases Hard copy Surveys and Survey Boxes at 14 City facilities throughout the City B. Online Brant News- online link to survey (10,000 click views) Expositor - online link to survey (10,000 click views) Chamber of Commerce Link to survey within monthly Chamber newsletter Facebook pages (City and Members of Council) biweekly messages
Date: October 17, 2012 Page 5 Twitter-key messages prepared and sent to all Councillors for re-tweeting Brantford.ca rotating banner, local focus, corporate news, most popular (all redirected to mybrantford.ca) mybrantford.ca rotating banner, newsletter alert to members My City My Services Update Page hosted on mybrantford.ca Mass emails sent to all Members of City Boards, Advisory Committees, and Task Forces Breakfast Invitees and key stakeholder listings QR code used for direct link to survey option to complete or request email Link All users notification to encourage municipal staff to participate as well Inclusion of e-mail disclaimers on all outgoing e-mail from the City during a specific period to include promotion and URL link to the online survey Online survey C. Television Inside Brant interview opportunity Live with Mayor Chris Friel - interview opportunity Typed messages during televised City meetings by Rogers Television encouraging residents to complete a survey or to call City Hall for more information D. Events Business Cards available at Ward meetings held during the consultation timeframe Open Booth at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre and Lynden Park Mall 8.2 Community Participation Appendix A in the Results Summary Section of the Report provides a detailed analysis of the number of responses received. Having in excess of 1,000 individuals participate in the consultation program should be considered a tremendous success. The Staff Working group are not aware of a similar City of Brantford initiative that has resulted in this level of participation. Appendix A provides a number of key metrics in this regard some of which are highlighted below: A total of 1,033 Surveys were completed or partially completed 980 Surveys were completed online 53 Surveys were completed in hardcopy form 20% of participants completed the survey on a mobile device 96% of surveys were completed by City of Brantford taxpayers The average time spent reviewing the background prior to completing the survey was 12.5 minutes 708 of 1,033 surveys were completed in their entirety The largest percentage of responses were from residents within the N3R postal code
Date: October 17, 2012 Page 6 154 responses were completed by City of Brantford or related Agency employees 97.3% of surveys were completed by individuals as compared to Groups or Businesses 8.3 Summary of Findings Section 8.3 of the Report has been subdivided into the 4 key component parts of the Consultation Program: A. Service Area Analysis B. Other Comments provided within the Service Area Analysis C. Support Services Comments D. Taxpayers Bill of Rights Comments A. Service Area Analysis The focal point of the consultation process was the comprehensive survey attached to the 20 Service Areas identified within the survey document. The comprehensive survey data and results have been attached as Appendix B to this Report. To aid in the review of the survey findings in Appendix B a roll-up of the key survey findings are provided below: Service Areas Identified as Most Important to Respondents (somewhat to extremely important) 1 Water Treatment and Distribution 96.4% 2 Police Services 92.9 3 Fire Rescue 91.9 4 Solid Waste 91.7 5 Public Works Operations 86.9 6 Sanitary Sewers and Pollution 84.8 7 Transportation and Traffic 81.6 8 Parks and Recreation 80.4 9 Economic Development 71.9 10 Planning Services 64.0
Date: October 17, 2012 Page 7 Service areas with high level of respondent satisfaction (somewhat satisfied to very satisfied) 1 Solid Wastes 86.1% 2 Water Treatment and Distribution 71.5 3 Fire Rescue 59.6 4 Police Services 59.4 5 Parks and Recreation 57.0 In which Service Areas are quality services most important to respondents? 1 Water Treatment and Distribution 83.0% 2 Police Services 71.9 3 Fire Rescue 70.7 4 Transportation and Traffic 64.5 5 Sanitary Sewers and Pollution 58.8 Service Areas Identified as Least Important to Respondents (no preference to not important) 1 Golf Operations 72.9% 2 Public Transit 57.4 3 Municipal Housing 56.5 4 Parking Services 55.7 5 Child Care Services 53.3 6 Tourism Brantford 52.1 7 Building Services 48.4 8 Sanderson Centre 46.6 9 Ontario Works 44.5 10 Library Services 39.3 Service areas with low level of respondent satisfaction (very dissatisfied to dissatisfied) 1 Planning Services 28.9% 2 Economic Development 27.6 3 Transportation and Traffic 25.3 4 Public Works Operations 24.0 5 Ontario Works 20.6
Date: October 17, 2012 Page 8 In which Service Areas are lower cost services most important? 1 Parking Services 64.6% 2 Golf Operations 62.2 3 Municipal Housing 51.4 4 Tourism Brantford 49.2 5 Ontario Works 46.5 Which Service Areas should be funded by User Fees? 1. Golf Operations 87.1% 2. Parking Services 83.4 3. Building Services 78.2 4. Sanderson Centre 78.1 5 Tourism Brantford 68.3 Where is it important that the City be the provider of the services within the Service Area? 1 Police Services 62.1% 2 Fire Rescue 58.2 3 Transportation and Traffic Services 51.3 4 Building Services 43.2 5 Sanitary Sewers and Pollution 40.2 Where should the City consider contracting out the Service Area? 1 Golf Operations 32.1% 2 Solid Wastes 26.2 3 Sanderson Centre 23.4 4 Parking Services 22.9 5 Child Care Services 21.9 B. Other Comments Received Within the Survey document, residents had opportunity to provide individual comments and concerns with regard to any of the identified service areas. A total of 376 respondents took the time to provide comments in this Section which have been replicated in their entirety in Appendix E to this Report. These comments represent a valuable component of the Survey and certainly provide Council with a window into a number of common concerns and issues within the community. It is certainly recommended that Members of Council take the opportunity to review all of the comments provided in Appendix E.
Date: October 17, 2012 Page 9 For ease of analysis however, Staff has attempted to identify the top ten common themes that run through the Comments Section. Based upon an analysis of key words within the Comments Section, the following subject themes emerged consistently: 1. Taxes There are many comments about current taxation levels, sustainability of current municipal spending and the need for reduced levels of taxation for residents. 2. Survey Document Many comments are provided with regard to the actual survey document. These comments range from the length of the Survey, to some of the vagueness of the questions, to comments thanking the municipality for the opportunity to participate in the Survey. 3. Quality and Level of Services Many individuals commented on the lack of available quality services in the City. A common theme within this category was the call for expanded recycling and household organics initiatives. 4. Service Efficiencies A number of comments were received with regard to the need to drive efficiencies from current municipal services and the need to carefully evaluate which services the municipality should be engaged in providing. 5. Municipal Staff A number of comments are provided under the categories of Municipal Staffing. The common thread here would be the need to control spending on municipal salaries and benefits and establish more efficient municipal operations. 6. Mayor and Council Within the comments Section there are a significant number of references to City Council and the need to work cooperatively and effectively to make progress on key municipal issues. 7. Municipal Budget Concerns surrounding continued Operating Budget increases were also frequently identified within the Comments Section. A number of respondents have identified the need to halt regular Operating Budget increases. 8. Municipal Transit Services - The current level of Municipal transit services are frequently identified within the general comments Section as a concern to many residents. 9. Emergency Services Comments are provided with regard to the increasing municipal budget allocation towards all of the various emergency services costs within the Municipality. 10. Recreational Services A number of comments are provided with regard to the current menu of municipal recreational service costs as well as expenditures relating to the construction of the new Gretzky Centre.
Date: October 17, 2012 Page 10 C. Municipal Support Services The third component of the survey document enlisted public comments on a grouping of 11 Municipal support services provided. Although a lot of citizens do not have regular direct contact with the 11 service areas, it is important to try and identify areas where the community believes an investment in the support services is required and alternatively where the focus should be placed on reducing costs. Appendix C in the Results Summary Section of the Report provides a complete summary and outline of the findings from this component of the Survey. The data collected which generally suggests that support services costs should be reduced is fairly consistent with earlier findings in the Comments section where residents generally believe that that Council s focus should be on service cost reduction. Potentially more revealing are comments with regard to support services where respondents felt that Council should invest and improve the support service area. The top 5 areas identified for additional investment in order to improve the support service were: 1. Support Services Community Agencies 71.4% 2. Engineering Public Works 64.5 3. Information Technology 64.0 4. Finance 51.5 5. Facilities Management 49.5 Conversely, the top 5 support service areas that were identified as not requiring investment to improve the service were: 1. City Clerk s Office 83.7% 2. Communications 67.1 3. Legal and Real Estate Services 58.3 4. Fleet Services 53.5 5. CAO 52.5 A related finding in the support survey identifies where respondents feel most strongly about the possibility of support services being contracted out. The 5 highest support services in this regard were: 1. Fleet Services 21.4% 2. Legal and Real Estate Services 18.4 3. Communications 17.4 4. Information Technology 17.0 5. Facilities Management 14.7
Date: October 17, 2012 Page 11 D. Taxpayers Bill of Rights Comments Of the total number of survey respondents, 587 individuals completed the component of the Survey concerning the Proposed Taxpayers Bill of Rights. Although the detailed findings with regard to the Taxpayer Bill of Rights component of the Survey are outlined in detail in Appendix D of the Results Summary document, it is evident that the vast majority (85.9%) of respondents to this part of the Survey agreed in principle with the need to establish a Taxpayers Bill of Rights. Of those responding there was overwhelming support to include the following components in the Taxpayers Bill of Rights document: Area of Bill (somewhat to strongly agree to include) 1. Access to Information 69.4% 2. Public Consultation 68.1 3. Openness/Transparency 64.0 4. Public Input into the Budget Process 58.9 5. Provides for Accountability 57.8 It is very important to note that 125 individuals provided specific comment with regard to additional wording/information that they would like to have included as part of the Taxpayers Bill of Rights document. All of the detailed responses to this portion of the Survey are also provided in Appendix E of the Results Summary document. Given the large number of varied responses to this portion of the Survey, Staff are requesting additional time to review the detailed responses in an effort to revise and restructure the Taxpayers Bill of Rights Document in order that it be reflective of the comments received. Given the very tight turnaround between the expiration of the Survey period, the collection of Survey results and the deadline to finalize the results report, there simply has not been adequate time to carefully review the findings of this Section in order to refine the Taxpayers Bill of Rights accordingly for presentation to Council. 8.4 Next Steps With over 1,000 community residents taking the time to participate in this exercise it is critical that the information gathered play an integral role going forward as City Council embarks on their 2013 Budget approval process. Staff has identified the following next steps and initiatives that can be supported by the information gathered: A. The Results Summary document should be a resource for the 2013 Estimates Committee process and serve as a guide for the Committee when analyzing the funding needs of particular service areas.
Date: October 17, 2012 Page 12 B. The Report and Results Information should be widely circulated and available within the community. Following adoption of the Report by Council, the Full Report including Survey findings will be made widely available to the Community and a follow-up Media Release will be prepared for the Community. C. Staff will work on a follow-up Report and Recommendation to the City s Estimates Committee to provide a revised Taxpayers Bill of Rights document for Council s consideration that is reflective of the comments provided by the respondents to the Survey. D. Staff will continue to focus on additional community input and educational initiatives. The public response to this initiative and the reference made by those completing the survey to the resource documents provided by the City, confirm the need for a well-developed and strategic approach to community consultation. 8.5 Lessons Learned for Future Consultative Efforts The Staff Working Group who coordinated the public consultation program has identified a number of lessons learned for future consultative efforts: 1. The Survey length provided a barrier to completion for some respondents. Staff will in future have to balance the need for a comprehensive public response with a recognition that future surveys may have to be more concise and focused. 2. It is quite clear from the response to this consultation program that there is indeed an appetite in the community for this type of consultative effort. 3. The timelines in this particular consultation left very little time between the close of the consultation period and the deadline for preparing a summary report to the Finance Committee. 4. The online survey methodology utilized (Survey Monkey) performed extremely well and provided a variety of useful tools for information analysis and was well received by respondents to the Survey. 5. The fact that many individuals referenced the City s online supporting documents for the Survey demonstrates a real need to expand public information offerings. 6. Any future Survey initiatives must include an easy to utilize general comments section. This feature of the current survey proved extremely valuable and offered great insight into current concerns and opinions within the Community. 7. It is evident that current Municipal Staff have the expertise and the ability to undertake a comprehensive consultation initiative. Many respondents to the survey commented about the cost to have a Consultant assist the municipality, which was not the case in this initiative.
Date: October 17, 2012 Page 13 8. A large number of respondents to the Survey completed the form on mobile a device. The use of a QR Code on all survey communications encouraged and facilitated this approach. 9. In attempting to categorize all municipal services into general service areas, it is evident that gaps exist where specific services may have been omitted (farmers market, etc.) 9.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS The City of Brantford s consultation process was coordinated entirely in house utilizing a cross-departmental working group of staff. Total direct expenditures devoted to the survey and consultation program total $2,254.30. The largest of these expenditures consisted of advertising and printing costs. Considering that many larger urban Canadian municipalities enlist the services of outside consultants and assign significant funding allocations to similar endeavours, the City has received good value for the limited dollars expended. 10.0 CONCLUSION Reaching over 1000 City of Brantford residents with this consultation initiative is a significant accomplishment. A well developed and comprehensive communication plan allowed knowledge of the My Brantford/My Services initiative to be widely known in the Community. Special thanks to all of the City s media partners who played a very active role in communicating this initiative throughout the City. In addition to the detailed survey findings outlined both within this Report and within the Results Summary document, a number of general themes and trends emerged from this initiative: Given the healthy response in the community to this initiative provides ample evidence that residents are engaged in and informed about their municipality. It demonstrates the appetite for additional and enhanced public educational and consultative efforts in the future. Analyzing the results provided demonstrates the importance that the community places on what would be considered core municipal services. The responses provided demonstrate wide support for the establishment of a Taxpayers Bill of Rights in the municipality. The Comments component of the Survey provided numerous references for the need to control current levels of taxation in the municipality and reduce Operating Budget expenditures.
Date: October 17, 2012 Page 14 The Survey results confirm the findings of the City s Continuum of Services ranking process. Darryl Lee General Manager of Corporate Services Trudy Belanco Manager of Corporate Policies and Management Practices In adopting this report, is a by-law or agreement required? If so, it should be referenced in the recommendation section. By-law required [ ] yes [ x ] no Agreement(s) or other documents to be signed by Mayor and/or City Clerk [ ] yes [ x ] no Is the necessary by-law or agreement being sent concurrently to Council? [ ] yes [ x ] no