Monthly Archives: January 2016

Bye Bye Fluoridation. See You in 2019?

26 Tuesday Jan 2016

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The Town of Parry Sound Council passed a resolution tonight that will start the process of removing fluoride from the Town’s water supply. The addition of fluoride will formally cease in late February or early March, after an appropriate by-law is prepared, given the statutory twenty-one day period for public review, and passed by Council.

There is an intention to put the fluoridation issue on the ballot at the next Town general election. If there is public support for fluoridation at that point, fluoridation could be reinstituted.

Personally I think removing fluoride is a mistake, but I respect the process and the pressure that the Town faced in terms of public activism and the potential costs of a referendum.

I will also note that mankind has a history of rejecting the best available evidence in favour of anecdotal opinion and observation. Just look at the long list of diet books written by physicians. Yet these ‘magical diets’ have never been embraced by public health organizations. But hey, a doctor said this diet works, so it must be true.

The process of developing public health policy, which currently recommends fluoridation of municipal water systems, involves much more than finding an expert ‘doctor’ and some supporting evidence. The process properly involves the examination and weighing of all evidence in a statistically rigorous manner. And it’s an ongoing process, new evidence is considered as it is published and validated. This is the process that has led to the fluoridation recommendation by the health organizations tasked with making therse recommendations.

And to one councillor, the fluoride additive used in fluoridation is not dangerous if used as directed. Many chemicals that are commonly incorporated into the products we ingest and use are toxic. Too much water, even non-fluoridated water, will kill if taken in excess.

Parry Sound 2016 Budget Approved, Levy up 3.16%

26 Tuesday Jan 2016

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Council approved the Town of Parry Sound 2016 Budget earlier this evening, which comes with a 3.16% levy increase. I have dubbed it the “Pickleball Budget”. There is no malice intended with this nickname. It is named this because of some additional expense additions to the budget that raised it above the informal target of 1.9%. This included $40,000 for community programming. And Pickleball was among the listed community programming activities.

How do I feel about the budget? I think Staff and Council did a good job of balancing the many competing priorities. Are there some expenditures that I don’t like? You bet, but not so many that their elimination would have brought us down to the original 1.9%. So I’m happy to live with it. I applaud Staff and Council for getting the Pickleball Budget approved before the end of January. It still needs to be ratified as a By-Law, but that appears to be a formality at this point.

FYI, here are the additional budget items approved at this evening’s meeting.

2016-01-26 TOPS Budget Additions

And if you are interested in a list of the other Community Programming activities planned for 2016, here is a list of activities noted in an earlier budget document.

Youth Nights
Lacrosse
Ball Hockey
Shuffleboard
Pickleball
Craft Nights
Soap Box

In case you’re wondering about Pickleball, here is a link. It’s basically a cross between tennis and table tennis.

 

TOPS 2016 Budget Bites – Part 6

24 Sunday Jan 2016

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Finance & POA Court

The Finance & POA (Provincial Offences Act) Department are the ‘bean counters’ of the Town, tasked with financial management. In addition to collecting revenues, paying bills, and preparing the annual budget, this department is also responsible for POA Court management. The arrangement with the POA Court is that the Town of Parry Sound is responsible for operating the Court and it receives these revenues, which after deducting the cost of operating the Court, are distributed among the 19 municipalities covered by the Court’s jurisdiction. Total fines were forecast to exceed $1.3 million in 2015. Parry Sound’s share may well contribute to the $112,000 in revenue (Unspecified) budgeted for 2016. (As an aside, many municipalities, especially in the US depend on traffic violations and fines for a significant portion of their operating budgets. That’s not the case in Parry Sound. It is also a good reason for local municipalities not operating their own policing forces. Too often is has been the case that in these situations policing forces are under pressure to issue tickets, with fines, that have a positive impact on the local municipality budget or offset in part the cost of the policing services. It can become a vicious cycle. )

It’s also interesting to see that Financial Expenses and Property Assessment Costs are both forecast at $96,500. It’s odd to see two identical budget line items that aren’t linked in some fashion. But it’s not obvious what the connection might be.

Finance 2016 Finance

Policing Services

This is the item that is creating budget issues for many of the West Parry Sound municipalities following implementation of a revised OPP costing formula last year. Parry Sound has benefited somewhat from the change, a net reduction of about 13% from 2014, but the Town still carries by far the largest policing cost burden in the District.

Finance 2016 Policing

TOPS 2016 Budget Bites – Part 5

24 Sunday Jan 2016

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This post covers Administrative Costs, a seemingly catch-all department budget category that includes the costs of Council, Information Technology, Third Party Funding, as well as General Administration. There are a few surprises in my opinion regarding expenses I was not familiar with. While it’s easy to understand that the tax levy covers things like snow removal, By-Law Enforcement, and Council, it is interesting to see where money is spent in terms of funding to third parties such as the Health Unit, meeting AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act) requirements, social services as well as maintaining our public heritage buildings.

Council

The costs here also include the travel expenses for Mayor and Council. It’s really not that much money when you consider what’s involved. If you are skeptical I suggest you attend council meetings for a year, prepare for the meetings by reading read the agenda packages, making notes on issues of concern. At that point you will have done about half the required work.

Admin 2016 Council

Administration

This covers Town Office staffing, facility operations and general administration. The net levy total makes little sense as any type of benchmark as the more general grants seem to be dumped into this budget category, creating a net positive. More interesting are the expenses which total $900,000.

Admin 2016 Admin

Information Technology

This would include staffing, third-party contracts, leases and subscriptions necessary to automate the Town, including staff and website. I suspect it also covers the GPS related activities (wpgn.ca). It would be nice to see a little more detail for this quarter million dollar budget item.

Admin 2016 IT

Third Party Funding

This is an area of the budget with which I had very little familiarity. A fair potion of the Town’s budget, beyond the library and museum, is allocated to public health and social services.

Admin 2016 3rd Parties

Other Properties

This is another area of discovery for me. I suspect that more money needs to be spent with these buildings if we want them to last another hundred years. There is an expression, “demolition by neglect’. It’s the process of neglecting necessary repairs that lead to more major problems that undermine the building’s integrity. Leading to a point where demolition is the only cost effective solution, starting over with something new. And it’s pretty easy to get buy in for the use of public funds at that point. It’s a not uncommon ‘off the record’ public policy used with buildings, and even whole neighbourhoods.

Admin 2016 Properties

TOPS 2016 Budget Bites – Part 4

23 Saturday Jan 2016

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The Emergency and Protective Services Department includes Fire, By-Law and Parking Services. In total this department accounts for almost $1.2 million in expenses that add a little less than $1.1 million to the 2016 Levy.

(Reminder: the final budget meeting is this Tuesday, the 26th, starting at 5:30 PM.)

Fire Department

The Fire Department costs are reasonably straightforward in terms of expenses. Although this service relies heavily on equipment, trucks, fire station and gear, the largest part of the expenses, about two-thirds is related to personnel. Volunteer firefighters are compensated for their time and efforts to the tune of about $250,000 annually. By way of perspective, the annual Fire Department costs are about the same as snow removal or parks management.

FD 2016 Fire

 

By-Law Enforcement

In a similar manner, the greatest expense related to By-Law Enforcement is personnel costs. Services provided to other municipalities, largely parking enforcement (Hmm, are they planning on free parking? I hope not!), reduces total costs by about $32,500.

Fire 2016 By-Law

 

Parking Services

I have reviewed at length in other posts the issues revolving around Parking and Free Parking. In terms of dollars, while Parking amounted to a net $12,000 positive to the levy as recently as 2014, in 2016 it is forecast to be a $137,000 expense. The $35,5000 in revenue is probably related to special parking permits that would permit the holders to park for longer periods than permitted by Free Parking.

Fire 2016 Parking

TOPS 2016 Budget Bites – Part 3

22 Friday Jan 2016

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The Development and Leisure Services budget provides much of the quality of life services in Parry Sound, plus the business development function. This includes Parks and Recreation, the Stockey Centre, the Bobby Orr Community Centre, as well as Building, Planning and Development Services. In total this department’s activities nets out as an about $2.6 million annual cost, and operationally contributes about $2.1 million to the Town of Parry Sound’s 2016 levy. The difference between cost and levy is accounted for by a backing out of the amortization expenses for the various facilities.

Presented below is a summary of the various Development and Leisure Services budgets for 2016 by department. Additional information regarding ‘Other Expenses’ is available in the full 2016 budget document available at the Town’s website.

Parks and Recreation Budget

TOPS 2016 Budget Parks Recreation

Comparison Point: It costs about the same to maintain the Waterfront and the many parks in Parry Sound as it does to manage the winter snow (Public Works Budget).

 

Bobby Orr Community Centre

TOPS 2016 Budget BOCC

The Bobby Orr Community Centre is presented in a slightly different manner, with the original and occasional and improvements costs deducted as an amortization expense. The Net Levy figure of $360K represents the effective operating costs for the Bobby Orr Community Centre. The cost of the original building and subsequent renovations that have been debentured, about $172K annually, are accounted for separately. It’s a bit like taking a car loan. Your annual costs for driving include insurance, fuel, repairs, tolls, etc., plus the cost of the car loan, which includes interest and principle (amortization of sorts). At the end of your payments you own a car. Your real costs to drive a car are more than just the gas you put in the tank. Hopefully, the Bobby Orr Community Centre will retain proportionately more value than a 5-year old Ford once it’s paid off.

Stockey Centre

TOPS 2016 Budget Stockey

The accounting for the Stockey Centre is similar to that used with the Bobby Orr Community Centre. Revenues are offset by expenses to yield a net loss, in this case about $550,000. Removing amortization costs, yields a net levy cost to the Town budget of about $275,000, for annual operation. It’s remarkable to realize that the operating expense for the facility, both the performance hall and the Bobby Orr Hall of Fame amounts to about $1.5 million per year. Getting the net costs down to a more manageable $275K depends on generating significant income from use of the facility. some may complain about the cost to rent the facility, but it’s far from a profit centre.

Building and Planning Services

TOPS 2016 Budget Building Planning

In the case of Building and Planning Services there is no mention of amortization. Presumably it’s covered by general administration amortization, and would represent a relatively small portion of the overall expenses of these departments.

Development Services

TOPS 2016 Development

This budget seems to cover the marketing and promotion activities undertaken by the Town, including events such as Canada Day Celebrations. It’s not clear what is involved in Economic Development Miscellaneous, accounting for half of the total budget, but I imagine that it’s largely staff salaries.

Looking at these costs I have to wonder how much a recreation centre would add to our tax levy. Using numbers I have found for similar facilities in Ontario I would expect the annual cost to be about $600,000 for operations and maintenance, plus another $550,000 per year in amortization, assuming a $10 million facility, 4% loan and a 30-year term. Put the two expenses together and you have $1.1 million in additional annual expense. Even assuming user fees of $200,000 per year (1,000 memberships at $200) the net impact to the Parry Sound levy would be about $900,000, an increase of about 10% on the current rates. Not an impossible figure, but one that would be likely to rankle those who would not make use of the facility. But raising the user fees too high would severely restrict use, and income, as has been the case with the Bobby Orr Community Centre. There is no easy answer or cheap solution.

TOPS 2016 Budget Bites – Part 2

19 Tuesday Jan 2016

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This post looks at where Publics Works (aka Operations) receives and spends its budget. The big budget items, beyond improvements to infrastructure such as the Forest Street rebuild, are related to roads, sidewalks and garbage. The tables below summarize revenue and expenses by the assigned cost areas. (Note – the 2016 budget is set up a little differently than 2015 and earlier, so changes in revenues and costs may not be directly comparable.)

Operations and Public Works Budget

Operations and Public Works Budget 2016 Waste Management

Waste Managmeent Table 2016

These are significant expenses for things that probably never crossed your mind, for example catch basin management – $59,455. In some ways these expense assignments are a little bit artificial. There are a defined number of individuals who are paid a defined amount annually, and the budget exercise in part involves assigning these costs, plus material, equipment and contracted services, to the many responsibilities of Public Works. It wouldn’t be as easy as suggesting the Town forgo Street Sweeping and save $26K. These are mostly fixed costs that would need to be assigned to other cost centres. But cut enough activities and there would probably be the opportunity to reduce staff and the associated costs.

A few observations:

  1. Snow management costs on the order of $800,000 to $1 million annually.
  2. Waste management costs the Town close to $1 million per year.
  3. Government grants, mostly Provincial, cover a large portion of the Operations budget. Although the dollar value of the grants has dropped over the years, there is no question that a portion of our provincial tax dollars are being returned to Parry Sound.
  4. It’s interesting to see that most of the Operations costs are offset by the Federal and Provincial grants, but not Waste Management. It’s an accounting issue I guess, or perhaps Waste Management expenses aren’t eligible for grant coverage.
  5. On the topic of accounting issues, I believe that the Operations and Public Works budget includes the costs for the various capital equipment they use day-to-day, i.e., snow plows, pick up trucks and such.
  6. The expense budget for Operations and Public Works budget is effectively reduced relative to 2015. This is not related to cost savings or such, but rather reflects that a number of staff from this department have been transferred over to Parks and Recreation. (Sounds like a great title for a TV show.)

Council Agenda Preview – January 19, 2016

18 Monday Jan 2016

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Fluoridation is on the agenda this week whether or not Council wants to discuss it, with letters and a deputation scheduled. It looks as though Parry Sound will no longer be fluoridating its water supply. I think it’s a shame. Actually, that’s not really what I think, but it has been appropriately suggested I keep my comments to myself.

Beyond that there appear to be a few Councillor initiated items on the agenda, Business Stimulus (9.6.1) and a Request for Water and Wastewater Rate Reduction for Seniors (9.6.2). I offer some thoughts on each of these items.

It seems to be business a usual, a couple of requests for support, dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’s on finance issues, and such. There is more than what is listed here and I suggest you check out the full agenda at the Town’s website.

Letters

4.1 – Letter Previously received from Kris Phillips, President of OmniVet Pharma Inc. Re: Addition of signatures regarding removal of fluoride from the Town’s water system.

4.2 – Joe Moloney, Parry Sound Progressive Water Management Group. Re: Information provided regarding removal of fluoride from the Town’s water system.

4.5 – Parry Sound Resident Taxpayers. Re: Questions regarding Council’s lack of response to requests to remove the fluoride from the Town’s water system.

Deputations

5.1 – Stephen Burnett, Executive Director of the Great Lakes Cruising Coalition (GLCC). Re: Great Lakes Cruise Ships.

5.2 – Joe Moloney, Parry Sound Progressive Water Management. Re: Update to Council regarding collection of signatures for referendum to remove fluoride from the Town’s drinking water.

5.3 – Jack Tynan, President. Andrew Ryeland, Board Member and Peter Searle, CEO, Park to Park Trail Association Re: Update on Park to Park Trail’s activities.

Resolutions and Direction to Staff

9.2.2 – Visitors’ Information Centre. Direction. That Council direct staff to investigate the feasibility and scope of the Town operating a Visitors’ Information Centre (VIC) at the Stockey Centre, reporting back to Council March 14, 2016. This is a much needed initiative on the part of the Town. Locating it at the Stockey Centre is brilliant, lots of parking, a great location, and also the ideal opportunity to ‘sell’ the idea of attending or hosting a function at the Stockey Centre.

9.6.1 – Business Stimulus Plan. Resolution. Whereas Council’s 2015-2018 Strategic Plan identifies Growth and Development as a Strategic Priority; and Whereas this Strategic Priority states that ‘the Town will be development ready and will strengthen and diversify its economy to provide sustainable growth and quality employment.’; and Whereas Council has given direction that consideration be given to the development and funding of a business development strategy as part of the 2016 budget process: Now Therefore Be It Resolved That Council establish a Business Development Task Team (BDTT) consisting of Cllr. Keith Saulnier, Taylor Elgie, Rob Mens and Lynn Middaugh to develop a Business Development Plan as follows: i) That a list of developers and private property owners of lands suitable for development be prepared and met with to gain an understanding and appreciation of issues related to doing business in Town and their development interest; and ii) That staff prepare a comprehensive list of non-mandatory fees (i.e.: building permit, site plan application, sign permit, securities, etc.), and the impact of amending these fees in an effort to stimulate development; and iv) That the BDTT review Resolution No: 2006-71, ‘Principles and Guidelines for Private Development’, the Tax Increment Equivalent Grant Program (TIEG), the Façade Improvement Program, and the Community Improvement Plan (CIP) and make recommendations as appropriate for Council’s consideration; and v) That Phase I of the Business Stimulus Plan focus on the former Imperial Wharf, waterlot, and adjacent lands at the bottom of Champaigne Street given that the Town owns and has control of these lands. The Phase I focus supports the Town’s Official Plan, Strategic Plan and the Waterfront Development Advisory Committee’s efforts to implement the Waterfront Development Master Plan; and vi) That the BDTT report back to Council by April, 2016 with a Business Stimulus Plan.

Lots of text in this resolution but the initiative is more than welcome, for both development of the waterfront and a unified municipal business plan. The Town needs to identify and develop opportunities building on its own unique assets.

9.6.2 – Request for Seniors Reduction in Water & Wastewater Rates. Resolution. Whereas senior citizens on fixed incomes constitute a significant proportion of the Town’s population as is the case in communities across the Province; and Whereas seniors constitute 24.3% of the Town’s population, and Whereas the numbers of seniors aged 65 and over is projected to more than double from 1.8 million, or 13.7 per cent of population in 2009, to 4.1 million, or 23.2 per cent, by 2036; and Whereas water and wastewater user fees are often considered by residents as another form of taxation; and Whereas those user fees have and are projected to continue to rise far in excess of the rate of inflation due substantially to the deteriorated state of municipal infrastructure and the cost of replacing and repairing that infrastructure; and Whereas Provincial support through the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund has been steadily and substantially declining for the past several years; Now therefore be it resolved that Council of the Town of Parry Sound petition Mario Sergio, the Minister Responsible for Seniors Affairs to develop a program designed to provide relief to municipalities to offset water and wastewater fees. Further that this resolution be sent to the Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Premiere of Ontario, Glen Murray, Minister for Environment and Climate Change and Charles Sousa, Minister of Finance; and To all Ontario municipalities and AMO for their support and endorsement.

This resolution acknowledges that our water costs are higher than we would like them to be, but that’s what it costs to deliver the service. It’s a bit like Alberta crude which costs $70 a barrel to produce, and at this point is not at all competitive in the world market. At the same time there is the ongoing desire to make things cheaper for seniors. As I approach ‘seniorhood’ I am conscious of many seniors who have never had it so good with lots of disposable income. Their mortgages are paid off, the kids have left home, and there is some degree of social support to supplement what they should have saved while working. This is the group that is showered with ‘senior citizen discounts’ for services, admission tickets and purchases. Perhaps some of these items are discretionary and the discount is an attempt to lure the seniors into attending an event or buying a service or item. I think we would be better off providing these discounts to the young families who are struggling to buy a home, are working one or more jobs, and probably raising a couple kids. Young families are challenged in so many ways that offering them, rather than seniors, the savings would seem to be more appropriate.

 It’s interesting to note that the resolution is asking the Province to step up and provide relief for the water bills of seniors in Parry Sound. In practice Parry Sound Council has the ability to offer this type of saving to seniors. But that would put an unreasonable amount of stress on the Town budget, or the younger population, and it would be hard to explain to others, some even more financially challenged than many seniors, why one group was singled out for special treatment.

By-Laws

10.3.2 – Land Ambulance Contract. Being a By-law to authorize the execution of an agreement between the West Parry Sound Health Centre and the Town of Parry Sound for the provision of Land Ambulance Services for four years (2016-2019). There was some suggestion that the Town, on behalf of the District, would put this contract out to tenders. I think sticking with the West Parry Sound Health Centre makes sense. The report in the full agenda package is worth reading, it’s well presented and easy to understand.

10.4.1 – Amendments to the Council, Boards and Committees Code of Conduct. Being a By-Law to amend By-law 2012-6138, a by-law governing Council’s conduct through a Code of Conduct and to consolidate 2012-6138 with 2014-6467, a by-law to amend the Code of Conduct. Unfortunately, Attachment A is not included in the full agenda package, making it hard to comment on.

10.5.2 – Set tax ratios for 2016. Being a by-law to set Tax Ratios for Municipal purposes for the year 2016. It’s worth a read if you are a business owner in Parry Sound. It seems that both multi-residential and industrial properties enjoy a relative property tax benefit in Parry Sound, and it doesn’t seem as though that will be changing anytime soon. Not that it should, I guess.

10.5.3 – Tax Policies – Capping and New to Class / New Construction. Being a By-law to specify our Tax Policies, including the claw back percentages, the capping threshold parameters, the minimum tax level for new to class / new construction and to exclude certain properties from the capping program for the year 2016.

I won’t be at this week’s meeting of Council. It will receive good media coverage by the Moose-FM and MetrolandMedia. It’s a busy week for me from a business and volunteer perspective. I plan on attending the budget meeting next week.

Parry Sound Colours – Mid-January (Parry Sound in Colour)

Redwood1890-20160117-_DS72702

 

 

Barking at Parking – Wrong Tree?

17 Sunday Jan 2016

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Well maybe it’s the right tree but what’s up the tree is not what I thought it was.

Going through the budget has been a bit of a revelation in a number of ways. It has also provided some clarity regarding Parking and the accompanying budget. It appears Parking has been used as a slush fund, which now represents a problem if Free Parking is implemented. Unless there are plans to drain the Parking Reserve. Let me explain.

I am not suggesting that parking revenues have been used for anything nefarious, no Caribbean vacations, or anything like that. It has been used to ‘tidy up’ legitimate Town expenses. Running a little short in one budget area and there is some logic in charging it to the Parking Reserves? Let’s do it. The first time I saw it was at a budget meeting three years ago where the expense for hanging flower baskets in the downtown was going to be cut or directly impact the levy. The solution was, as proposed and accepted by Council, charge it to Parking. These baskets were, after all, being hung in and around the paid parking areas. This was a $10,000 plus expense.

That explains why I haven’t been called out about my criticism of the costs for a parking attendant in the 2016, about $65,000. That’s perhaps because the majority of the cost isn’t for parking enforcement, it’s probably for By-Law enforcement. In the past a By-Law person was responsible in part for parking enforcement plus a large number of other by-law duties: dogs, cats, neighbour complaints, fire and fireworks violations, etc. All of this is necessary in my opinion, and I don’t suggest the position is redundant. But because some of By-Law’s work related to parking enforcement a large portion of expenses related to the position could be charged to the Parking Budget, which had a steady stream of revenue.

With the likely adoption of Free Parking, a By-Law salary probably shouldn’t be charged to Parking, at least not in full. But bringing it into the regular budget would bump up costs by about $50,000. That would translate into a 0.5% levy increase. The thinking perhaps was to continue to assign it to Parking and continue to drain the Parking Reserves, rather than deal with a levy increase or a cut in some other part of the budget.

I occasionally receive a suggestion from Council or Staff when I’m off target. But in the case of Parking, not a peep. They have let me continue to stand on my soapbox and criticize the parking attendant costs. The alternative it seems would be to let me and others know that the expense(s) really isn’t related to Parking. That then would require Staff and Council in good conscience to assign $50,000 or so to another part of the 2016 Budget, not the levy neutral Parking Reserve, implying either expense cuts or a levy increase.

The actual forecast cost of parking attendant services for 2016 seems to be $17,000, for a part-time position. A much more reasonable total than the $65,000 listed in the Draft 2016 Budget. I won’t bark at that, at least not too loudly.

I recall a joke my boss told me when I started my first ‘real’ job; it was as a pharmaceutical sales representative. It goes; a traveling salesman working in Southern Ontario is caught in an unexpected early November snowstorm. To properly call on his clients he needed to buy a pair of ‘galoshes’. He was too far from home to retrieve his. When later preparing his expense report he wrote, “Galoshes – $14.00”. Total expenses for the trip were $485.14, including hotels, meals, parking, gas, etc.. His boss returned the expense report asking it be reduced appropriately as the company didn’t pay for galoshes, it was a personal expense. The sales rep dutifully rewrote the report eliminating the line item for the galoshes. When the boss received the expense report it still totaled $485.14. Attached to the report was a Post-It note that read “Find the Galoshes”.

In that same theme I wonder where the hanging baskets among other items are now buried. If you have ever managed sales people and expense reports you know it’s like playing Whack-a-Mole. If the sales rep feels it’s a legitimate expense it will end up in the expense report somewhere.

Bottom line: once again I may be wrong. The $48,000 may actually be for a support person in the larger Fire and Emergency Services department. But at least I’ve made sense of a strange situation. There appears to be no plan to hire a full time parking attendant, even if it is in the budget.

A final thought. Paid parking in Parry Sound is not cost neutral. It has in the past provided much needed funds to cover much more than the attendants, meters and lot maintenance. It will be missed, but not for long. If you look closely you will find it in your tax bill, or in reduced services. Or a depleted Parking Reserve fund.

TOPS Parking Budget 2016-01-12Click for a larger view.

TOPS 2016 Budget Bites – Part 1

16 Saturday Jan 2016

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Rather than cram a detailed budget analysis in a couple of posts I will be focused on bite sized looks at the 2016 Town of Parry Sound (TOPS) Budget. The posts will take a look at key elements of the 2016 Budget, with some analysis and thoughts. One immediate observation is that he 2016 Budget really isn’t as large as it might seem if one looks at the effective ‘cash’ flowing through the Town’s books.

Municipal budgets are prepared in a manner different than one usually sees in the business world. This has to do with  provincial regulations and is intended to ensure consistency from municipality to municipality, but at times seems quite arcane and makes it more difficult to understand. I’m certainly not an accountant, much less a municipal accountant, so I’ll try my best to tease out the essential elements of the budget without making too many wrong turns. A reminder, if you have an issue or recommendation with regard to the budget you need to get your comments in as soon as possible. The Town of Parry Sound 2016 Budget is scheduled for wrap up in early February.

Q1: What is the value of the 2016 Parry Sound Budget?

This is yet to be finalized, but the numbers presented in the early December anticipate Total Expenses of $29.7 million. This number is a little misleading as it includes the cost of the District Land Ambulance that the Town of Parry Sound administers. If we back that expense out, the TOPS 2016 Budget is $21.2 million. If we also back out the water and waste water expenses which are not covered by the Town levy and are expected to be self funding, the 2016 Budget falls to about $16.5 million. Not all of that is covered by resident and business taxes. A portion is offset by provincial funding and grants, payments in lieu of taxes (federal and provincial), fines, investment income, licenses and permits, rents and concessions. The net portion of the 2016 TOPS budget funded by a levy on properties (Taxation Revenues) is expected to be $9,779,818. (Note, this figure has risen since the draft budget was issued in early December as a result of revised MPAC assessment estimates.)

Q2: Where is the money spent?

This is a question that I will examine in more detail in follow on posts, but a summary is appropriate. Provided below is a copy of page 29 of the Parry Sound Director of Finance’s presentation to Council on December 8th that outlines the 2015 tax supported expenditures, and which is similar to 2016’s. (Click chart to see a larger version.)

p29 TOPS Budget 2015-12-08

It should be noted that this chart covers only the tax supported expenditures, and omits Land Ambulance and Water / Waste Water. It’s also important to understand that some of these expenditures are offset with income, notably the Bobby Orr Community Centre and Stockey Centre which receive rental and service related income, as well as limited grants. In the same sense Operations (Public Works) nets out at a smaller figure once offsetting grants are included.

In the next posts we’ll take a closer look at where the money goes. There are a number of surprises, at least from my perspective.