Council considered more than 80 items that were changes to last year’s budget – resulting in an overall increase in spending of $9.2 million. That spending is funded in a variety of ways including increased revenues from rates and fees; draws on reserve funds; cuts in costs or services; and an increase to the tax levy.

That spending is detailed below.

The post Budget 2013: Spending increases by $9.2m, city tax by 4.5%, $2m in “nice-to-haves” appeared first on Ward 2 News Burlington | Marianne Meed Ward.

Development and Infrstructure Committee, Feb. 25, 1pm, City Hall

Recent downtown developments have revealed the need for upgrades to hydro service in the downtown, as well as a policy on burying hydro lines, and who pays.

Staff have made a series of recommendations that will be considered at the Development & Infrastructure Committee Mon. Feb. 25 summarized below.

Upgrades

Much of the downtown is serviced by 4kV lines, which are adequate for low and medium density residential and mixed-use development, but are inadequate for recent higher density developments in the downtown, which have all required upgrades on a project by project basis. Because of the continued growth expected in the downtown to meet our provincial intensification targets of 200 person/jobs per hectare, it will be necessary to upgrade hydro service to 27.6kV throughout the downtown.

Burial or overhead

Hydro burial has some advantages in compact areas like the downtown. As such, city staff are recommending a Hydro Services Policy be formalized whereby new power lines in new residential areas would be underground; new power lines in new non-residential subdivisions would be overhead; reconstructed power lines would remain overhead; and existing overhead electrical systems in specifically designated areas would be buried, where the benefits of burial outweigh the cost.

Staff are recommending the downtown be designated a Special Policy Area, requiring burial of hydro. Burial creates a more aesthetically pleasing streetscape by reducing or eliminating overhead clutter; allows for a more open space for tree
growth; and reduces the required setback of buildings from the street line allowing for
the most efficient use of the site and a more urban form of development.

Who Pays

Hydro burial is more expensive than overhead service (as much as four to ten times more than rebuilding an existing overhead system.). The projected cost to upgrade service downtown is approximately $20 million, of which approximately 30 to 40 percent ($6 to $8 million), is attributable to burial. For recent developments, including Bunton’s, The Baxter, 360 On Pearl, as well as the Reichman senior’s development now under construction, the hydro upgrades were all paid for entirely by the developer. Historically, however, city council has contributed. Ten downtown streetscaping reconstruction projects with hydro burial were approved in the 80s and 90s, with the city picking up 100% of the hydro burial costs. This amounted to approximately $6 to 8 million. Most recently, the city spent approximately $2 million for the burial of hydro along Elgin Street as part of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre project.

The city currently has no Council approval for city funding or city contribution towards hydro burial.

Staff have outlined three options that could be explored:

1. Developers continue to pay 100% on a project by project basis.
2. Hydro pays 33% of the cost, developers 66%.
   Burlington Hydro is supportive of this option, as there is some precedent: they currently provide roughly 33% rebate to green field development for newly installed hydro works in recognition of new customers.
3. Hydro pays 33%, the city pays 17%, developers pay 50%.

Recognizing that the beautification associated with burying hydro downtown will benefit both new development projects as well as fulfilling the city’s interests, city staff could support funding a portion of the burial costs (approximately17% of the $20 million total cost, or $3.4 million). There would be an estimated return on that investment in 5-10 years because of the increase to developable area, and thus assessed taxes, by burying hydro wires. Staff are proposing a fixed term of this program of 6 years to foster development and allow for review.

Staff are requesting Council direction to review funding options and implications and to report back to Council with a recommended funding strategy.

To read the full staff report with Appendices A, B, and C.

My Take: I support the continuation of the long-standing practise of burial of hydro wires downtown, and am open to the hydro-city-developer funding option, to promote aesthetics and tree preservation.

Your View: Do you support hydro burial downtown? If so, who should pay? Post a comment on my website here or email me at marianne.meedward@burlington.ca.

The post Hydro burial, upgrades & cost-sharing proposed for downtown appeared first on Ward 2 News Burlington | Marianne Meed Ward.

Your taxes could go up as much as 6.5% this year, depending on which proposals by members of council are approved. Budget discussions take place Feb. 26. & 28, with March 5 & 7 if needed, for a final vote at council March 18.

My goal is to get us near 3% and no more than 4% – a challenge given the array of new requests.

Other than hospital, infrastructure and roads funding (which can be accommodated under 4%), most of the requests were not predictable in previous years.

A significant driver of increases this year are the requests from the city’s boards and committees, including the Burlington Public Library, Burlington Performing Arts Centre, Burlington Art Centre and Burlington Economic Development Corporation. Boards already get a 2% across the board increase but there are significant requests over and above that.

Several big-ticket items relate to new a new library and community centre being opened in the Alton community. As I’ve written about in the past, when new homes are built tax assessment alone does not cover the full costs of services required by these new residents. That’s why we need to continue to aggressively focus on expanding our Industrial-Commercial-Institutional tax base (as I wrote about recently here. Burlington’s growth has come primarily from the residential sector, which drives up taxes even though these are partially offset by new tax revenue.

Additional big ticket items include investment in transit and economic development, both of which I support (with some suggested modifications).

I’ll be keeping three principles in mind heading into budget week:

1. Economic environment

Our city budget must take into account the current economic environment and the ability of residents to pay.

The provincial, national and global economy is still in a slump, with inflation last year around 1.85%.

According to the January 23 report from the Bank of Canada, the slowdown in the second half of 2012 was more pronounced than the Bank had anticipated, due to weaker business investment and exports. High household debt levels have begun to restrain household spending. The Bank of Canada projects growth in 2013 to be 2%, and 2.7% in 2014. The total Consumer Price Index inflation is expected to remain around 1% in the near term. As a result, the Bank maintained its interest rate at 1%.

To provide an analogy, if the city budget is your household budget, when your income isn’t growing (or worse lose your job) you make spending decisions accordingly. Further, Burlington has a significant number of seniors living on fixed incomes who haven’t had a “pay increase” in years. Any tax increase for them can be significant.

Property taxes don’t take into account your ability to pay – you lose your job you don’t pay income tax, but you still pay property tax at the same rate. So the city must take ability to pay into account in our budget decisions.

Ability to pay is becoming more constrained, looking at the tough (and worsening) job market out there for residents.

Barely half of working adults in the GTA have full-time jobs with benefits and expect to be working for their current employer a year from now, according to a reportreleased last weekend by McMaster University and United Way Toronto. The other half are working either full- or part-time with no benefits or no job security, or in temporary, contract or casual positions. This “precarious” or insecure work in the region has increased by 50 per cent in the past 20 years, notes the report.

Many communities already support the notion of “ability to pay” as a criteria for budget decisions in essential service union negotiations. These unions, primarily fire and police, go to arbitration as members are not allowed to strike. In the past, contract arbitration awards focused on ensuring contracts were the same across communities, rather than considering the ability of each town to pay. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (of which Burlington is a member) has pushed for contract awards to take into account local fiscal conditions.

One of the goals of our budget process this year was base budget increases tied to inflation. It was pegged to the 3yr rolling CPI (Toronto) average, which sat at 2.64%. We need to revisit that in light of Bank of Canada projections and actual growth.

2. Priorities over nice-to-haves

Our city budget must focus on priorities over nice-to-haves.

Priorities for residents include the hospital and infrastructure, including roads, community buildings and transit. These priorities were reaffirmed during public budget consultations at a city-wide meeting and an online survey (report here. In summary 69% support increasing the levy for Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital, to reduce reliance on debt to pay for the city’s share of the redevelopment; 63% support staffing and operating costs for the Alton Community Centre; 60% support staffing and costs for the the Alton Library; and 63% support expanded transit service.

I will be supporting these items during budget discussions.

In addition, the budget includes an increase in infrastructure funding, representing 1.25% of the total tax increase, which I also support.

Regarding the overall tax increase, 54% said they could support 4% tax increase, however 34% also said they would be “very unsatisfied” or “somewhat unsatisfied” (13.5%) with a 4% tax increase.

For a line by line discussion of proposed items in the budget, please see my earlier article on the budget here.

3. Improved budget principles

Our city budget planning process must encourage savings in the base budget and better detail in the business cases.

Last summer, council approved a budget process of base budget increases in line with inflation (“base budget” being services the city already provides), and business cases for items over and above that, for increases or decreases in services.

I supported that process, but seeing it in action this year believe we need to make some changes (and granted there have been some hiccups simply because we’re getting used to this new process).

First, automatic increases to the base budget do not encourage finding efficiencies, or reflect current economic realities. Many organizations have frozen (or reduced) their budgets.

To the city’s credit, staff did find $1.4 million in base budget reductions, however most of these were funded by increased revenues from a variety of sources including transit, planning and building, rental and programming revenue, and engineering rates and fees. Further, the city received additional income from new tax payers and increased tax assessment from property values going up, amounting to .87% of the tax impact.

Halton Region prepares a total all-in budget (with increases and decreases in service) in line with inflation, and then reduces the in-year tax impact with revenues from tax assessment and growth. Though there are some challenges to the Region budget that I’ve outlined publicly before, this is a budget planning a model we can consider for Burlington.

Second, some new services (though nominal in size) were included in the base budget – for example, provision to the Burlington Teen Tour Band annual trip.

This is not the intent of the base budget model which is to address inflationary increases for current activities. The primary inflationary drivers in the base budget are human resources compensation (salary, benefits and pension accounted for 2.17% of the total increase), commodity price increases of 4% (a .26% increase in taxes), general inflationary pressure (a .24% of the tax increase), and increased insurance premiums (a .16% increase in taxes).

Further, fee increases and other new revenue streams should be counted separately from the base budget, as we do at the Region, as offsets to the entire tax impact.

Finally, in many instances, the business cases did not provide either enough data, or the right kind of data, to evaluate their merits. “Outcomes” listed were often outcomes for the organization, as opposed expected benefits for the community being served. Further, the brevity of the reports required much additional research on the part of council, staff and organizations alike and must be improved for next year.

In conclusion

Many (though certainly not all) requests for funding in this year’s budget have merit. They would be supportable in an improved economic climate, or if we were not contemplating a potential 6.5% tax increase. However, given the economic climate and the potential increase for necessary items, our budget must reflect priorities and need to haves. I’ll be voting on that basis.

City budgets are like home budgets: if your kitchen is 20 years old and in poor shape, you may want to replace it for return on investment, enjoyment and improved resale value – all good and worthy reasons. But if the roof is leaky and the furnace is beyond useful life, those take precedence, and you find ways to make do with the old kitchen. In some respects, we’ll need to ask our staff, boards, and ourselves to “make do” for now, while we take care of priority needs.

Your Take: What’s your preferred tax increase (if any) for this year, and what items would you fund (or cut?). Post a comment below‎ or email me at marianne.meedward@burlington.ca.

The post Budget 2013: Aiming for increase near 3% appeared first on Ward 2 News Burlington | Marianne Meed Ward.

Council will be considering a motion to research options for a policy on fundraising by members of council, and donations and sponsorship to council member-organized community events. The motion directs staff to review practises in other municipalities and report back on options for council’s consideration, including a review of existing policies and the potential for new fundraising policies.

Council will consider the item at the Community Services Committee Feb. 27, with a final vote March 18.

The motion is in response to recent media attention on fundraising practises in other municipalities, as well questions raised by members of Council about fundraising activities, primarily in the Mayor’s Office (some new, some ongoing from previous terms).

Total gross revenue for Mayor’s-Office organized events (Inspire; Cabaret; One Dream) was $201,807 (2012). Events with the sponsorship assistance or branding of the Mayor’s Office (Burlington Economic Development Corporation, and Burlington Community Foundation events) was $201,660 (2012) for a grand total last year of $403,467.

A full list of those activities , amounts raised, expenses and donor lists, is included in a report from the Mayor’s Office available here.

These events are over and above special event spending authorized in council-member budgets (members of council receive $9000 and the mayor $32,000 annually for constituent activities, including hosting meetings and events. See story below).

Summary of events and gross revenue received:

The Mayor’s Inspire Burlington Speakers Series:
$13,050 (2011); $19,350 (2012); $10,000 (2013 – to date)

Mayor’s One Dream Workshop: $57,500

The Mayor’s Cabaret
(a fundraiser for the Burlington Performing Arts Centre): $124,957 (2012)
Planning underway for September 2013.

Burlington Community Foundation Masquerade Ball (formerly The Mayor’s Gala)
Assisted with sponsorship phone calls and signing sponsorship request letters and received $25,000 in each of 2011 and 2012 from the proceeds, which was put toward innovateBurlington (in 2011) and a fund for graduate students administered by BCF (in 2012).

Burlington Economic Development Events
(branded as “Mayor’s” events):
* Mayor’s Luncheon Series: $74,630 (2012); $107,350 (2011)
* Mayor’s Annual Golf Classic: $102,030 (2012); $103,455 (2011)

My Take: We need a made-in-Burlington policy to provide clarity around fundraising and events sponsored by members of council. The legitimacy of the events themselves is not in question – they are all intended for a worthwhile community purpose. Whenever money is involved, policy needs to be in place to provide accountability, transparency and ground rules, to protect donors and council members alike.The amounts here are substantial, the activity is ongoing and there is no clear policy to provide guidance.

I thank Mayor Rick Goldring for bringing forward the motion and providing this report – it’s the first time I’m aware of that a complete listing of activities, amounts, donors and costs has been publicly released by a mayor.

The City of Toronto has a well-developed policy on council-member organized events and fundraising here that may provide some guidance. Among other things, it includes a cap on the amount of fundraising for council-member organized events ($10,000 per year total for all events); restricts fundraising during an election year, and forbids it after nomination papers are filed; provides reporting and banking requirements; and excludes accepting funds from developers with any pending planning, conversion, demolition or sign variance application before the city. Surplus revenue must be counted as part of the councillors annual office budget. Members of council are also advised not seek donations for programs that have been, or could be offered, through the City.

The City of Toronto’s Code of Conduct further forbids the use of city resources for any activity other than “the business of the Corporation.” Among other things, this policy forbids the use of city resources for fundraising for private charities.

Your Take: Do you support a policy on fundraising, and council-member organized events? If so, what criteria should be included? Should council-member sponsored events be paid for through fundraising or through the council members’ annual budget, or both? Post a comment below or email me atmarianne.meedward@burlington.ca.

The post Clarity needed on Fundraising by Burlington’s City Council appeared first on Ward 2 News Burlington | Marianne Meed Ward.

The front elevation

Development & Infrastructure Feb 25, 6:30pm, City Hall

City staff are recommending approval of the rezoning of 2071 Ghent Avenue to permit a four-storey, six unit townhouse building, with two parking spaces each, and three spaces for visitor parking. If approved, the development will undergo further review through the site plan review process, including landscaping, site layout and material. There is also a potential contamination issue identified by Halton Region to be resolved, due to the presence of an oil tank under the existing dwelling. The removal of the oil tank requires the demolition of the house which is currently occupied.

As a result, staff recommends the following conditions be satisfied prior to the enactment of the proposed Zoning By-law:

• Submission of an Environmental Site Screening Questionnaire to the Region of Halton

• Submit a letter of reliance for the Phase I ESA from the qualified professional who submitted the report, to the satisfaction of the Halton Region.

• Dedicate to the city, free of charge, lands for a +/- 0.91m road widening of Ghent Avenue, pay all associated costs, including the cost of preparing the reference plan.

The recommendation will be considered at the Development & Infrastructure Committee on Feb. 25, with a final vote at City Council March 18.

Read the staff report here, and register as a delegation to speak to the recommendation here.

My Take: Like many residents who contacted me, I support the project as a small scale, low-impact in-fill project that will improve the property, which had become run down, while providing a mix of housing in the area. Many of the initial concerns raised by residents have been addressed in the staff report.

Your Take: Do you support this development? Post a comment on my website below or email me at marianne.meedward@burlington.ca.

The post Staff recommend Northhaven Development on Ghent appeared first on Ward 2 News Burlington | Marianne Meed Ward.

City staff are seeking council approval to find a seasonal vendor to rent the Beachway Park Pump House this summer. The request, outlined in a report here will be considered by the Community Services Committee Feb. 27. Uses could include food service, or retail/commercial operations that would provide complementary services for Beachway Park. The building is currently being used as storage.

Previously, council approved a Request for Expressions of Interest, and received four proposals, indicating there is interest in the market to use the facility. The next step is proceeding to a Request for Proposals (RFP).

Staff are recommending an RFP for an interim seasonal renter not dependent on water and sanitary service. Burlington Beach does not receive waste water servicing currently, and the whole area is under a Master Plan review to determine its future, including options for sanitary services. The Region is suggesting the city wait for the outcome of that review before installing servicing at the pump house on an ad hoc basis.

An interim seasonal use for the pumphouse will provide a short term opportunity to animate the beach and generate some revenue, while awaiting the outcomes of the Master Plan review and servicing plan. A tenant could be in place as early as June 1.

My Take: I support finding an appropriate use for the pump house, to preserve this unique heritage asset for residents, and contribute to an array of activities and services for visitors to the Beach. My thanks to the members of the Burlington Waterfront Committee (formerly the Waterfront Access & Protection Advisory Committee) for spearheading this initiative, one of several recommendations to council from this city-wide residents committee that provides input on ways to enhance waterfront amenities for all residents. Thanks also to Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven for bringing the original RFEI motion, approved by council, which got the ball rolling on this.

Your Take: What would you like to see operating out of the pump house? Post a comment below or email me at marianne.meedward@burlington.ca.

The post Business sought for beach pumphouse appeared first on Ward 2 News Burlington | Marianne Meed Ward.

The Burl-Oak Naval Veterans have requested that the promenade in Spencer Smith Park from the Waterfront Hotel to the Discovery landing that abuts the Naval Ships Memorial monument be renamed the Naval Veterans Walkway, in honour of Naval Veterans.

According to information from the Burl-Oak Naval Vetarans, the monument is regarded as one of the 12 best War Memorials in Canada, attracting visitors from all over the world. There is a standing order for all Navy Ships leaving Hamilton Harbour to stop and salute the monument before continuing on their way.

Renaming the promenade will bring more attention to the monument, and honour the Naval Veterans.

Click here for the motion, and here to read the letter of request form the Burl-Oak Naval Veterans.

My Take: I have received several emails from residents supporting this change, and also support the change. I thank Mayor Rick Goldring for bringing this forward.

Your Take: Do you support renaming the promenade in honour of the Naval Veterans? Post a comment below or email me at marianne.meedward@burlington.ca.

The post Renaming proposed for Spencer Smith promenade appeared first on Ward 2 News Burlington | Marianne Meed Ward.

Skateboarding on Burlington’s streets not permitted

As the city tries to encourage more active transportation, we are reviewing rules around using city streets for wheeled transportation including skateboarding, roller blades, electric scooters and other “emerging vehicles.” Currently all of these are prohibited on city streets.

The city wants to hear from you, and is hosting two open houses to gain public input:

Tues. March 19, 7-9pm
Burlington Art Centre
1333 Lakeshore Rd.

Wed. March 20, 7-9pm
Tansley Woods Community Centre
1996 Itabashi Way at Upper Middle Rd.

My Take: I support the review and taking steps to encourage skateboards and other wheeled devices for transportation.

Your View: Do you support allowing skateboards and other wheeled transportation on city streets? Should all roads qualify? Only roads with bike lanes? What criteria, if any, would you support? Post a comment below or email me at marianne.meedward@burlington.ca.

The post Skateboarding on streets to be reviewed appeared first on Ward 2 News Burlington | Marianne Meed Ward.

Freeman Station signing

The Friends of Freeman Station are hoping to move the historic train station to a new home in April, on land provided by Ashland-Hercules on Fairview Street, just east of the fire station.

The Friends are currently interviewing for a general contractor to help with the pre-move stabilization of the station, as well as a mover. They’ve also launched a fundraising campaign. To date, more than $83,000 has been raised for the station. You can buy an annual membership for $10, move the station 6 inches for $20, and make additional donations here.

The Burlington Historical Society has very generously offered to match donations of its members to the FOFS up to $5000.

These milestones follow on the signing of a Joint Venture Agreement with the City of Burlington in January, which still owns the station.

My Take: I have always believed the community would save this station and find a location and use, and they are! My thanks to the volunteer board members led by president James Smith and vice-president Brian Aasgaard, for the countless hours they have all devoted to saving the station.Thanks also to Councillor Blair Lancaster, who serves with me as council liaison to the Friends. Welcome to our guest, Mayor Rick Goldring, who signed the agreement on behalf of the city.

Finally, many thanks also to the late Jane Irwin who died suddenly in February. Jane was a founding member of the Friends of Freeman Station board as vice-president, and was an integral part of the original Save Our Station group formed in the 1990s. Her vision and passion for heritage preservation in Burlington, and her contribution to saving the Freeman Station, will be missed. If you would like to donate to The Friends of Freeman Station in memory of Jane, please send a cheque made payable to The Friends of Freeman Station and a note that your donation is in memory of Jane. Please mail cheques to:

Friends of Freeman Station
3023 New Street
P.O. Box 91536 Roseland Plaza
Burlington On. L7R 4L6

Please include your full name and address if you would like to receive a tax receipt.

The post Burlington’s Freeman Station to be Moved this Spring appeared first on Ward 2 News Burlington | Marianne Meed Ward.

The city is poised to invest $1.25 million in 2013 alone in new and improved multi-use paths throughout the city

City council voted 4-3 to retain the centre turn lane on Lakeshore Road, rather than reduce it to a painted median to install on-road bike lanes. In support were myself, Councillors Sharman & Taylor, and Mayor Goldring.

Your voice made the difference. Hundreds of residents like you (many of you cyclists!) shared your concerns with me and other members of council that the proposal would compromise both functionality and safety of the road  for all users. Your valuable insights, lived experience, and reasonable alternatives to on-road bike lanes helped sway the vote to keep the road as is.

The road is functioning safely now: data I received from our Transportation Department indicates no cycle/car collisions in 2012, or 2011. Compared to cycle/vehicle collisions on other arterial roads, Lakeshore is at the bottom of the list. The road is not on the city’s Top 10 worst roads for car accidents.  The road is functioning as it should. Our users are sharing Lakeshore Road. And for cyclists who wouldn’t ride on Lakeshore even with a bike lane, there is the multi-use path on the south side of Lakeshore, or the fully separated Centennial Path a block away. In fact, as many or more of our cyclists use the Centennial Path: 115 cyclists per day use Lakeshore, but 103 were measured in just a four hour period riding on the path.

Though this particular proposal was not supported, this is not a vote against cycling. In fact, the city is poised to invest $1.25 million in 2013 alone in new and improved multi-use paths throughout the city, including $300,000 to improve the multi-use path on the south side of Lakeshore Road. In addition, the city dedicates $25,000 annually for improvements to hydro paths, and $30,000 annually for improved cycling signage. These improvements have all been identified by our Cycling Committee and recommended in the city’s Cycling Master Plan.

Thank you for speaking up. It made all the difference.

The post On Burlington’s proposal for bike lanes on Lakeshore Road – You did it! appeared first on Ward 2 News Burlington | Marianne Meed Ward.