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5. OPERATIONAL
BUDGET REVIEWS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES - EXAMEN DES BUDGETS DE FONCTIONNEMENT DES SERVICES
ADMINISTRATIFS - BUREAU DE LA
DIRECTRICE MUNICIPAL ADJOINTE DE L’URBANISME, DU TRANSPORT EN COMMUN ET DE
L’ENVIRONNEMENT |
Committee Recommendation as amended
That Council
approve the final 2008 Operational Budget of the Office of the Deputy City
Manager of Planning, Transit and the Environment, as amended by the following:
1. That
the Budget of the Deputy City Manager’s Office of Planning, Transit and the
Environment be reduced by $80,000.00 (1 FTE) as per the Budget Reduction Option
1.
Recommandation modifiée du comité
Que le Conseil approuve le budget
final de fonctionnement de 2008 du Bureau de la directrice municipale adjointe
d’Urbanisme, Transport en commun et Environnement, tel que modifié par ce
qui suit :
1. Que
le budget du Bureau de la directrice municipale adjointe d’Urbanisme, Transport
en commun et Environnement soit réduit de 80 000 $ (1 ETP) conformément à
l’Option de réduction du budget 1.
Documentation
1. City Council report dated 31 January 2008
(ACS2008-CMR-CSE-0009).
2. Extract of Draft Minute, 8 February 2008.
Report to / Rapport au :
Long Range Financial Plan Sub-committee
Sous-comité du plan financier à long terme
and Council / et au Conseil
Submitted by/Soumis par : City Council / le Conseil municipal
Contact
Person/Personne ressource : Diane Blais,
Committee Coordinator / Coordonnatrice du comité
City
Clerk’s Branch / Direction du greffe
(613)
580-2424 x, 28091
Diane.Blais@Ottawa.ca
That the Long Range Financial Plan Sub-Committee recommend Council approve the final 2008 Operational Budget of the Office of the Deputy City Manager of Planning, Transit and the Environment, as presented in the attached updated 2008 operating budget pages.
Que le Sous-comité du plan financier à long
terme recommande au Conseil d’approuver le budget final de fonctionnement de
2008 du Bureau de la directrice municipal adjointe de l’Urbanisme, du transport
en commun et de l’environnement, tel que présenté dans les pages mises à jour du budget de
fonctionnement de 2008 ci-jointes.
In December 2007, during its deliberations on the 2008 Budget, Ottawa City Council approved a motion calling on the Long Range Financial Plan (LRFP) to conduct operational budget reviews for administrative services.
At its 9 January 2008 meeting, Council considered and approved a subsequent motion, which amended the schedule for the LRFP’s review of the various branches.
In order to assist the LRFP in
its work, Financial Services staff has provided updated budget pages for the various branches being
reviewed. These pages have been revised
to reflect any changes approved by Council during its budget deliberations.
The budget pages for the Office of the Deputy City Manager of Planning, Transit and the Environment are attached to this report and are numbered sequentially, however they also include the reference page to the 2008 Draft Budget document in case members of Council have made notes in their budget books and want to refer to them.
This item will be advertised in the local dailies as part of the Public Meeting Advertisement on Friday preceding the Long Range Financial Plan Sub-Committee Meeting.
Any changes approved by Council
will amend the City’s 2008 Operating Budget.
Staff from the various branches to implement any changes approved by Council.
OPERATIONAL
BUDGET REVIEWS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES - OFFICE
OF the DEPUTY CITY MANAGER OF PLANNING, TRANSIT AND THE ENVIRONMENT
EXAMEN DES BUDGETS DE FONCTIONNEMENT DES SERVICES ADMINISTRATIFS - BUREAU DE LA DIRECTRICE MUNICIPAL ADJOINTE DE L’URBANISME, DU TRANSPORT EN COMMUN ET DE L’ENVIRONNEMENT
ACS2008-CMR-CSE-0009 City Wide / À l'échelle de la ville
Ms. N. Schepers, Deputy City Manager of Planning, Transit and the Environment, spoke to a PowerPoint presentation in which she discussed her department’s mandate as well as her office’s structure, program areas, budget and staffing. A copy of her presentation is held on file.
Mayor O’Brien inquired as to Ms. Schepers’ efficiency target in this budget. Mr. Kirkpatrick indicated the department had been given a target of $12.7M over three years - $3.5M in 2008, $3.7M in 2009 and $5.4M in 2010.
Noting that 97% of the Deputy City Manager’s office budget was for compensation, Councillor Jellett submitted the only options were to either get rid of people or lower salaries and he wondered whether either of these was realistic. Mr. Kirkpatrick suggested lowering salaries was not realistic. He explained the City paid staff based on a job evaluation system in terms of the weighting of roles and responsibilities and corporate consistency. Therefore, without changing the job description, the City would not roll back salaries. He indicated changing a job description or eliminating a position were options. However, he maintained these were not efficiency options. He suggested the DCM could tell members what these limited number of FTEs did, what their roles and functions were and what outcomes they generated. Council could then decide whether or not to continue doing those things, however he did not recommend forgoing any of the work done in these offices.
Councillor Jellett believed the average person felt City staff was overpaid compared to the private sector and he wondered if there was any basis to this. In terms of the salaries of front-line and intermediate positions, Mr. Kirkpatrick submitted that when compared with large companies employing unionized staff, the City was comparable. However, with respect to management and executive staff, the City’s salary scales started to drop off in terms of parity with the private sector. Therefore, he submitted that City staff was not overpaid in terms of the realities of running a large public sector organization in a unionized environment.
Councillor Jellett noted the City of Hamilton was looking at increase its complement of casual employees from 10% to 20% and he wondered if the City of Ottawa was looking at something similar. Mr. Kirkpatrick submitted this was not really relevant in terms of the branches currently before Committee. However, he acknowledged the strategy was not new. He discussed the different cost structures involved with different categories of employees, from full-time permanent right down to casual. He indicated the City looked to maximize as much flexibility as possible in terms of operations and the ability to use those lower cost structures when it was operationally feasible to do so within the terms and conditions of the collective agreement. He suggested moving from 10% to 20% was a huge shift and he would speak to his counterpart in Hamilton to find out how they intended to accomplish this, after which he would come back to Committee.
Responding to questions with respect to the $80,000 reduction option for her office outlined in the agenda, Ms. Schepers indicated it would be a service reduction, which would cause a slow down in terms of the department’s ability to move forward on its strategic initiatives in terms of stakeholder relations and trends analysis, though there would continue to be a focus on Council inquiries. She confirmed that there were currently two vacancies in her office and adopting the reduction option would eliminate one of these positions.
In response to a question from Councillor Wilkinson, Ms. Schepers indicated her office’s budget included $10,000 for consulting, though this was not earmarked for anything specific. Like Mr. Kirkpatrick, she tapped these resources to deal with issues that may arise throughout the year.
Councillor Wilkinson suggested postponing filling one of the vacancies in the DCM’s office until the end of the year, for a savings of $80,000. In terms of the position identified in the reduction option, Ms. Schepers explained the key responsibilities pertained to employee recognition for the department, coordinating the United Way campaign and internal stakeholder engagement. Should the position not be filled at this time, some of these tasks would be re-assigned.
Responding to questions from Councillor McRae, Ms. Schepers confirmed that the $80,000 identified in the reduction option included the salary and benefits associated with the FTE and that the other vacancy in her office had a similar dollar value, though the role of the other FTE was more of a key position in terms of the department’s transformation and the productivity savings.
In light of Ms. Schepers’ last response, Councillor McRae indicated she was prepared to move the reduction option outlined in the agenda, for a savings of $80,000 and one FTE.
Moved by Councillor M. McRae
That
the Budget of the Deputy City Manager’s Office of Planning, Transit and the
Environment be reduced by $80,000.00 (1 FTE) as per the Budget Reduction Option
1.
CARRIED with Councillor Hume dissenting.
Committee then voted on the item as amended.
That the Long Range Financial Plan Sub-Committee recommend Council approve the final 2008 Operational Budget of the Office of the Deputy City Manager of Planning, Transit and the Environment, as amended by the following:
1. That the Budget of the Deputy City
Manager’s Office of Planning, Transit and the Environment be reduced by
$80,000.00 (1 FTE) as per the Budget Reduction Option 1.
CARRIED
as amended