By Pepper Parr

April 8^th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

So this is how they handled it.

Last November Burlington Green delegated to City Council asking for $50,000 in the way of support..

There wasn’t much in the way of discussion at the time.  A number of Gazette readers pointed out that not for profits were not entitled to grants.  The policy setting out that position was due for review in 2023 but wasn’t given any attention.

With the ask in front of them – Council had to make a decision.

BurlingtonGreen has Holy Grail status in this city – a status that is much deserved.

There are some that feel the Gazette is gunning for BurlingtonGreen.  The record will show that we have given them more ink than any other media.

The concern we were focusing on was the practice of taking care of your friends that we were seeing at Council meetings.  Everyone from the City Manager down on the Staff side and every member of Council looked for some way to give BurlingtonGreen the funds they needed.

The Staff report was an embarrassment – it failed to look at the risks and didn’t look for something unique.

The need at BurlingtonGreen was real.  Funding from the federal and provincial levels had not dried up but it wasn’t providing what Burlington Green felt they needed.

They had also gone as far as they could go with the Trillium Fund Foundation.

The city decided to:

 

Approve one time funding for 2024 in the maximum amount of $62,000 from the Green Initiatives Reserve Fund (we were not aware that there was such a fund) as a fee for services provided by BurlingtonGreen

Direct the Executive Director of Environment, Infrastructure and Community Services to execute a Memorandum of Understanding between the City and BurlingtonGreen outlining the services to be provided in 2024, including performance measures in form satisfactory to the Executive Director of Legal Services and Corporation Counsel; and

Consider an ongoing fee for services approach with BurlingtonGreen in the amount of 62,000 per calendar year during the Mayor’s 2025 budget process.

We would like to see that list of services and how they determine the dollar value of each service.  The details do matter.

More importantly is the policy environment – and that appears to have been neglected.  Policy is the reason Council exists – they look to Staff to come forward with reports and they determine what the policy is – and if the policy needs a revision and perhaps an upgrade then Council turns to Staff for input.

Clearly the funding environment has changed – Climate Change is a fact of life.  The question is: How are we going to deal with it on a person to person on the ground level?

That is where BurlingtonGreen has led the way.  They literally create events and occasions to improve the environment which is the critical part of getting a handle on Climate Change.  And, most importantly, they have a membership that shows up and delivers.  People who decide they want to run for public could learn a lot about organization from this group.

Their Green Up – Clean Up is not just a public service it brings out people in the hundreds to do the job and celebrate what was done. On one occasion a local hospitality organization showed up with their BBQ’s and fed hundreds in Civic Square – an occasion for which they should have been given a Key to the City.

How the new funding approach plays out will call for transparency and accountability.  This Council and Staff didn’t do all that well on this one.

By Pepper Parr

April 7^th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

He “overlooked” an  email linked to the $8.28-billion Greenbelt scandal that was transmitted on private server accounts instead of government servers.

Ontario’s ethics watchdog has cleared Premier Doug Ford’s chief of staff of wrongdoing after the discovery of an “overlooked” email  brought to his attention in a  complaint from NDP Leader Marit Stiles to Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake

In response to the complaint J. David Wake said he has “accepted” Patrick Sackville’s explanation of how his Oct. 17, 2022 email exchange was missed.

“I have concluded that the Oct. 17 email sent from Mr. Amato to Mr. Sackville’s personal email in the circumstances I have outlined does not support a finding that Patrick Sackville knew about the specific removal criteria for lands from the Greenbelt or the properties selected for removal until he was briefed with others, as he testified, on Oct. 27,” Wake wrote earlier this week.

The Integrity Commissioner said “it is unfortunate that this email was not retrieved in accordance with the request for documents I made to Mr. Sackville … I have accepted his explanation as to how it was overlooked.”

Sackville, Ford’s chief of staff, told Wake it “was an oversight on my part” that the missive fell through the cracks because it was to his personal account rather than his government email.

Sackville said: When asked for all documents relevant to the issues you are investigating, I conducted a diligent search of my records that would be responsive to your request. However, I did not locate the email from Mr. Amato in making that search,” said Sackville.

“In conducting some due diligence related to freedom of information requests, I later became aware of this email and, consistent with my obligations, provided it to you expeditiously,” he said, referring to the message being found last December.

“I do not conduct government business on my personal email, and would not have expected or anticipated such an email.”

Wake said “it is entirely plausible that he would have given primary attention to the hundreds of daily emails he receives to his government email address and that he may have neglected to be attentive to his personal emails.”

Stiles, who obtained the documents through a freedom of information request, argued the email contradicted testimony given under oath to the integrity commissioner last year.

In the message from Amato to Sackville, the ministerial chief of staff shared a “list of criteria for removals” of 7,400 acres from the two-million-acre environmentally sensitive Greenbelt around the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

These include “infrastructure services,” such as proximity to roads, gas and hydro lines and water mains, police and fire services.

The email also listed “potential offsets” such as the Paris Galt Moraine, “green space our government has decided not to move on” as well as “options to go larger depending on executive interest.”

At issue is the timing of the email, which is at odds with testimony made under oath to Wake for his Aug. 30 report on the Greenbelt affair.

“Members of the premier’s staff also told us they were not involved in the selection of properties,” the integrity commissioner wrote last summer.

“Mr. Sackville said he did not discuss specific properties to be removed or removal criteria with Mr. Amato until the briefing that occurred on Oct. 27, 2022,” he noted at the time.

“Mr. Sackville recalled being first briefed about the Greenbelt project at a meeting facilitated by the cabinet office on Oct. 27, 2022. He told me that he recalled the intentions of the policy were discussed and that it should be ‘programmatic,’ meaning that it should be something that could be repeated and made standard.”

However, that was 10 days after the Oct. 17 email in which criteria for removal of the lands from the Greenbelt were addressed. The changes were finally announced publicly on Nov. 4, 2022.

Sackville and Amato are reported to have declined to comment when contacted by the Star on Thursday.

Ford has maintained he knew nothing about the removal of 15 parcels of land from the Greenbelt, which were estimated to be worth $8.28 billion to property owners.

In separate reports last summer, the auditor general and integrity commissioner found certain developers with Tory connections were “favoured.”

Under pressure, Ford cancelled the land swap on Sept. 21.

The deal is now being investigated by the RCMP.

The public should demand that the Mounties live up to the once rock solid reputation – they always get their man.

Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.

By Staff

April 6th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Let’s Grow Burlington’s Tree Canopy Together!

BurlingtonGreen and the City of Burlington Forestry Department are organizing a community tree planting to take place from 9:30 am to noon on Saturday, April 20th at Pathfinder Park.

Together we will plant 500 native trees PLUS some lucky participants will each win a beautiful tree to plant at their Burlington homes!

Advance registration is required. Limited space is available.  Click HERE to register

By Eric Stern

April 6^th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

On March 30^th Mayor Meed Ward wrote the following commentary piece in the Spectator:

“It is truly unfortunate to see the misinformation, speculation and rumour circulating in the community on these matters, and more discouraging to see some of those same rumours repeated in a column in The Spec on March 28.”

On March 28^th, Spectator columnist Joan Little had asked a simple question:

“Why is all this happening at once? Because of the power a mayor has to hire and fire?”

In the mayor’s commentary, she makes no attempt to answer Little’s question or to provide any information to stop the speculation and rumours surrounding multiple senior leadership departures at city hall. The mayor goes on to state “our residents deserve accurate and fact-based news and opinion coverage”.

Given that the City of Burlington employs people with serious communication skills it’s really surprising that, quoting the mayor, “misinformation, speculation and rumour” cannot simply be explained by someone, anyone, from the city providing “accurate and fact-based” information.

If Brynn Nheiley and Sheila Jones were fired, the severance and legal costs will be in the six-figure range for each one of them. Do taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent?

As a taxpayer, I have to wonder if the communications department is nothing but a taxpayer-funded PR organization for the mayor.

Something unusual is happening in politics and there are echoes in history. Napolean owned two military newspapers, allowing him to directly communicate with the military and public. After coming to power, he closed down 60 of the 73 newspapers in Paris.

Germany, in 1923, had 467 radio listeners. By 1932, there were over four million paying radio subscribers in Germany. Hitler was able to use this new technology to directly communicate with the public.

With changes in technology come political shifts.

We are at the beginning of the social media age. A new technology that allows our leaders to directly communicate with the public. Both Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre make extensive use of social media.

I’m not suggesting either will become dictators. I am suggesting that without the balance of editors and reporters, the direct messages from our politicians and their PR professionals have the potential to be misleading. Should we be looking at these direct messages from our politicians with a healthy dose of skepticism? Should we check the information with other sources, including newspapers and TV news and form our own opinions?

Newspapers were new in the late 1700s, radio was new in the 1930s. Do we place more trust in what we read or hear from a new technology source simply because it’s new?

Quoting the University of Chicago Press, “in the case of Donald Trump, Twitter seems to have been one of the key enablers for his meteoric rise to power, rather than the means to challenge or take away that power”.

Kellyanne Conway,  Advisor to President Trump, coined the term “alternative facts”.

As  a taxpayer, I expect facts.

Mayor Meed Ward, or her communications team, posts directly to LinkedIn, FaceBook, Instagram, X (Twitter), Threads and on https://mariannemeedward.ca/

The startling lack of information about the recent departures from city hall is a form of misinformation. With all of this ability to directly communicate with city staff and the public Mayor Meed Ward should be using information to counter misinformation instead of accusing Joan Little of spreading rumours.

Are strong-mayor powers coupled with a PR machine what the residents of Burlington want? Please help send a message to Mayor Meed Ward by signing Blair Smith’s “Restoration of Democracy at Burlington City Council” petition on change.org   Click HERE

 

 

By James Portside

April 6^th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

Third of a three part series on what city staff are paid and the pension program they benefit from.

 

City manager Tim Commisso will be dancing his way into retirement.

For anyone interested in exploring the Ontario Sunshine list the official website for 2023 is:    https://www.ontario.ca/public-sector-salary-disclosure/2023/all-sectors-and-seconded-employees/

The benefits information provided on the above website refers to taxable benefits only. Municipal employees in Ontario, who work 32 hours a week or more, are automatically enrolled in the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) pension plan. The city and the employee pay into this plan.

These are the OMERS contribution rates for people who want to retire at age 55, or older, with at least 35 years of service. Age plus years of service must equal at least 90 to receive the maximum pension benefit.

Someone earning $66,600 contributes $5,994 a year to their pension plan with the city matching this contribution. The employee portion reduces take home pay. People at the $66,600 income level or lower contribute less to their pension so they will have more money for today’s expenses. When someone with a defined benefit pension plan retires and starts collecting their pension the pension payments are indexed to inflation. The private sector has largely switched to defined contribution plans because inflation is unpredictable.

OMERS will raise contribution levels to cover any shortfalls in the plan, with employers (cities funded by taxpayers) paying half the cost of any increases.The “salary paid” number in the sunshine list does not include the cost of non-taxable benefits such as pension plan contributions. The 2023 Burlington sunshine list data shows 59 employees with “Manager” in their title. The average annual income for this group is $137,544. Contrasting this with the private sector the employment website Indeed.com reports that the average manager in Toronto has a base salary of $95,154.  The city contributes 14.6% to each manager’s pension plan or an average of $20,081. This brings the average cost to taxpayers, for each manager, including the pension benefit, up to $157,626.Let’s say our fictional average manager contributes just over $20,000 a year to their pension plan with the city matching this contribution bringing the total contribution to over $40,000 a year.

Our fictional manager is 40 years old and was just promoted onto the management team after 15 years of service with the city. To keep things simple, I’ll pretend there is no inflation or salary increases so that the pension contributions continue at the $40,000 a year level for 25 more years and that amounts to $1 million. At least $200,000 would have accumulated in the first 15 years bringing the city and individual contributions to $1.2 million but hold on, like any pension plan, OMERS invests this money and, over the last 10 years, has earned an average annual return of 7.3%.Starting retirement savings early, adding $40,000 a year from age 40 to 65, along with consistent compounding annual returns of 7.3%, brings the value of our average manager’s pension savings to around $4 million.

Albert Einstein said “compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world” and you can really see how solid money management by the OMERs team pays off.OMERs uses a formula to calculate what someone’s actual annual pension amount will be. The formula uses the average of an individual’s best five consecutive years of earnings and is explained in detail in the members handbook (https://members.omers.com/member-handbook).After 40 years with the city, our fictional manager will receive an inflation protected pension of $92,035.20 a year, every year, for the rest of his or her life.For the city’s top earners, the pension benefit becomes quite large.

For example, last year the city paid $44,091.12 into Tim Commisso’s pension plan.  According to LinkedIn between Burlington and Thunder Bay Commisso has over 34 years of municipal service. Based on the limited information in the sunshine list Commisso will receive an inflation protected pension of at least $177,679.65 per year, every year, for the rest of his life.We now understand why this man is dancing.
Cities rarely lay people off, you really have to make an effort to be fired, and the pension plan benefit is a significant perk over the long term.

Kudos to all the permanent employees at the city on an excellent career choice.

Links to part 1 and part 2 of the series:

Part 2  https://burlingtongazette.ca/the-significant-salary-increases-during-2023-are-not-the-only-problem-facing-the-city-the-revolt-on-the-part-of-a-majority-of-council-members-is-very-serious/

Part 1:  https://burlingtongazette.ca/sunshine-list-number-of-people-making-over-100000-increased-by-16-from-393-names-to-457/

Disclaimers:1 – OMERs contributions are calculated on base salary excluding overtime. The sunshine list just shows total earnings.2 – The calculations in this article have been double checked but only OMERs members have access to the official OMERs pension calculation website.  3 – Tim Commisso’s pension calculations are based on the standard OMERs calculations. Commisso’s contract with the city may have other pension stipulations.

Jim Portside has lived in Burlington for much of his life and has watched the city change and grow over the years. With over 1,000 people working for the city there is a lot going on. As a now retired, successful business owner, Jim is interested in exploring and sharing some of what our local government is working on. You can reach Jim by emailing Jim.Portside@gmail.com

By Staff

April 5th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

The following is a note Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns sent out to the people who get her newsletter.  It is a start but it is going to take more than polite notes when you are up against a Mayor who “Never apologizes, Never retracts and Never explains”

I am writing to alert you to a pressing concern in Burlington City Hall. The regular April Newsletter will arrive to your inbox tomorrow. Please see below and share. Reach out to me with any additional questions or commentary.
Councillor Kearns

The recent amendments to the Municipal Act have opened a door that Burlington residents should be cautious about walking through. At the heart of the matter is the significant expansion of powers to mayoral authority—often referred to as “strong mayor” powers—which puts into question the balance of power that is fundamental to the nature of our local government. It is true, we have had these in place for a while now, but we should have been more vigilant around how far we could push back and to have commended more vocally the mayors who willingly shed these on receipt (Guelph, Milton, Halton Hills, Kingston, Kitchener).

Our City Council has requested Mayor Marianne Meed Ward to consider delegating/giving back powers allowed under the new legislation. These powers include appointing key administrative positions, leading the structural organization of the municipality, and directing council committees.

It is a dangerous mix for one person to have the unilateral ability to hire or fire senior staff (as well as the City Manager!), configure decision making committees of council AND the immovable powers of dictating the City Budget! Yikes, what an environment to work in. Imagine being a civil servant carrying out the work supported by Council as a whole…then, whammo a mayor could come in and tell you to go in a different direction that aligns with their agenda.

What a difficult position to be in! Of course anyone who wants to keep their job would bend to the political will. And that is the crux, staff aren’t political. They operate under the checks and balances that the City Manager gatekeeps to ensure that resourcing and finances remain in check with what the Council as a whole make political decisions on. This is how democracy works. These ‘strong mayor powers’ turn that upside down and threaten the governance structure that Council as a whole must be ruled by. In essence, such consolidated power could upset the very fabric of our city’s democratic processes.

Why Should Burlington Resist Strong Mayor Powers?

1. 1. 1. Collective Wisdom Over Centralized Decision-Making
         The strength of a council lies in its diverse representation of all residents and its collective wisdom in decision making. When power is concentrated in the hands of a single individual, we detract from the benefits of having multiple perspectives that can challenge, refine, and improve decisions impacting our community. We must ask who we are there to serve at every decision.
      2. Transparency and Accountability
         With strong mayor powers, the transparency of appointments and organizational changes risks becoming obscured. Residents deserve a clear view into how and why decisions are made, ensuring accountability across all actions of local government.
      3. Checks and Balances
         Checks and balances are vital to prevent any form of governance from overreaching. By allowing Mayor Meed Ward—or any mayor—the ability to make unilateral decisions without the council’s majority support, we risk undermining this safeguard. Power without boundaries must not be allowed in our community.
      4. Community Representation
         Council members are elected to be the voice of their constituents. Diminishing their roles in key committee leadership dilutes their capacity to represent the interests of the people who elected them. Councillors will be reduced to observers of the decision-making process – that means your voice and ours is gone.

Your Voice is Vital
The question of strong mayor powers is not just about governance structures; it’s about the values upon which Burlington was built—a city that thrives on active citizenry and community-based decision-making. The reality is, sure we do make many decisions that are ‘unanimous’, but that is not an indicator of a collaborative council and should not be used to dismiss this call to action. We also disagree – and very few see the constructive challenges that occur behind the scenes to get to the best outcome for our community. Also, listing mayoral decisions is not transparency. Some of the decisions shouldn’t be made in the first place – that’s what we are asking you to help advocate for.

We urge Burlington residents to engage with this topic actively, to understand the ramifications of holding onto mayoral powers that may irreversibly alter how our city is managed.

Act Now for Burlington’s Future
Don’t be a silent observer amidst these changes. The mayor says she is in ‘thoughtful consideration’ of the matter – tell her to give it up. Already a majority of Council support this because we know you care about democracy and that your voice must be heard. We cannot allow actions that have the momentum to create a toxic work environment to take hold of our City Hall. You are the taxpayer and this Council and the actions of Staff are your investment – don’t you want to ensure that power is not concentrated in the hands of one position? Imagine a bigwig executive at a big company that has the ability to override or dismiss employees without consultation – would you think of that company as a good investment? Probably not!

Attend the upcoming City Council meeting April 16th where your voice can have impact. Be part of a collective effort to ensure that our governance remains equitable, transparent, and representative.

Email Clerks@Burlington.ca and my office Ward2@Burlington.ca and say:

My name is __________________ I live at ________________and I request that Mayor Meed Ward delegate those powers she is permitted to under the amended Municipal Act, including: appointing a chief administrative officer; appointing chairs and vice-chairs of local boards; creating, dissolving, assigning functions and appointing chairs and vice-chairs of council committees; hiring municipal division heads; and changing the organizational structure of the municipality.

Please include this email as correspondence in the April 16th Council Agenda.

Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/restoration-of-democracy-at-burlington-city-council

Burlington deserves governance that reflects its community’s integrity, not the unchecked power of a single office holder. Join us in upholding the values that make Burlington strong.

Together, we can keep Burlington a city of unified vision, not divided authority. Let’s keep our checks and balances intact for the betterment of Burlington now, and for generations to come.

Related news stories:

Councillors have more than words in their tool kit

Mayor stalls despite intense pressure from members of Council

By Staff

April 4th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

For less than five minutes next Monday afternoon millions of people will be bustling with solar eclipse excitement.

Toronto will also be busy with sporting enthusiasts attending the Blue Jays’ opening game and the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game.

Metrolinx expects a record numbers of travellers  and will be rolling out special GO Transit services to accommodate this influx of travellers.

Niagara Falls Service

On Monday, April 8, there will be special service to and from Niagara Falls on the Lakeshore West line for customers travelling to see the solar eclipse:

• Two extra trips are being added to the Lakeshore West line from Union Station to Niagara Falls. Trains will depart at 9:02 a.m., 10:02 a.m. and 11:02 a.m., ensuring customers have enough time to get to Niagara for the solar eclipse.
• Trips are also being added and modified on the Lakeshore West line from Niagara Falls to Union Station. Return trips from Niagara Falls will depart at 4:24 p.m., 4:54 p.m., 7:21 p.m. and 10:51 p.m. to give customers more departure options.
• All trains to and from Niagara Falls will be 12 cars long to provide as much room onboard as possible.
• Regularly scheduled GO bus service will also be available for customers via Route 12 Niagara Falls/ Burlington.
• Trains will stop at Exhibition, Port Credit, Oakville, Burlington, Aldershot and St. Catharines GO stations in between Union and Niagara.

Event Service for Jays’ opening game and Maple Leafs’ game

Also on Monday, April 8, there will be special event service on the Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East and Barrie lines to support customers travelling for the Jays and Leafs games in Toronto.  Additional express trips, adjusted schedules and replacement buses are being implemented including:

• Lakeshore West: Two extra express eastbound trips will depart Oakville GO at 5:07 p.m. and 6:03 p.m. The 10:52 p.m. westbound trip to Niagara Falls will also depart 20 minutes earlier at 10:32 p.m. to help get customers home earlier.

Customers are encouraged to use gotransit.com or triplinx.ca to plan their trips as schedules and connection times have changed for this weekend. Customers can also check the GO Transit Service Updates page for real-time details

Transit is now more convenient and affordable with Ontario’s One Fare Program, allowing transit riders to pay only once when travelling between the TTC, GO Transit, Brampton Transit, Durham Region Transit, MiWay and York Region Transit. Learn more about One Fare here: metrolinx.com/onefare.

 

 

 

By Staff

April 3rd, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

From the Burlington library:

This year, we asked for a design inspired by your favourite book, and the entries we received were as creative and diverse as the books on our shelves. It was challenging to narrow the entries down to just four for each age category for voting, but we hope you agree that the winning designs showcase the imagination and talent of our Burlington community.

 

Our youngest winner, Lea, recently checked out the books Earth by Marion Bauer and Planet Name Game by Tish Rabe, instigating “many, many, many questions about space” (according to her family!) and her awesome space-themed bookmark. Alex was inspired by the popular book, Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach by Melanie Watt. Alex’s favourite subject is art, and this is his first time winning a competition. We don’t think it will be the last!

The book, Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter inspired Adrianna to create her beautiful wintery scene. Tazi honoured one of her favourite books of all time, If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang. And finally, Diana’s surreal fish creation was inspired by How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

Congratulations to our five winners, and a big thank you to everyone who submitted a design and voted. These awesome bookmarks are now available to pick up at your local branch. Tuck them into your next great read!

 

By Pepper Parr

April 4^th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

This is how a municipal budget gets put together when the Mayor uses the Strong Mayor Powers.

Council is being asked to:

Receive and file finance department report providing an update to the format of the 2025 budget documents and the preliminary 2025 Mayors budget approval timelines; and Direct the City Clerk to schedule a Special Council meeting on November 25, 2024 for the purpose of reviewing the Mayor’s proposed budget.

Section 284.16 of the Municipal Act, 2001 S.O. 2001, c. 25 outlines a statutory process for the approval of municipal budgets beginning with the presentation of the Mayor’s proposed budget, amendment of the proposed budget by City Council, veto of amendments by the Mayor and override of vetoes by City Council.

The general provisions of the Act regarding budgets are summarized below: Page 2 of Report Number: F-19-24

By February 1 of each year the Mayor must prepare and propose a budget to Council for consideration

Authority to prepare and propose the budget rests solely with Mayor

This authority cannot be delegated to Council or staff

Mayor can issue a staff direction for staff to prepare budget

Once the Mayor proposes a budget, Council has 30 (calendar) days to meet and pass budget amendments.

30-day period can be shortened by Council resolution

May require special council meeting to meet 30-day timeline

Following the amendment period, the Mayor has 10 (calendar) days to veto budget amendments passed by Council.

Mayor vetos must be set out through a Mayoral Decision and include reasons for veto.

Mayor can shorten veto period via a Mayoral Decision.

Budget amendments vetoed by Mayor are considered not to have been passed by Council

If veto power is not exercised, budget is deemed to have passed

Within 15 days of the veto period ending Council may meet to attempt to override Mayoral vetos.

Council override of Mayoral veto requires 2/3 super majority to pass.

After process of amendments, vetos and overrides has passed the budget is deemed to have been adopted.

Council no longer needs to vote on budget in its entirety.

Budget is considered to have been passively adopted once the approval process above has finished.

The following graphic outlines the key budget process steps as stipulated in the Act:

Mayoral Direction – Budget Development

As outlined earlier, under the provisions of the Act, the authority to propose a budget rests solely with the Mayor. However, a Mayoral direction can be issued for staff to undertake the work required to prepare a draft budget. In order to formalize this requirement for the 2025 budget, the Mayor will be issuing this Direction later this year.

 The staff process to inform the Mayor’s Proposed Budget will include:

 An extensive line by line review of the draft operating base budget submitted by each service will be conducted by the Acting Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

 An extensive review of the draft capital budget will be conducted by the Corporate Infrastructure Committee (CIC).

 Staff will prepare a Financial Needs and Multi-Year Forecast report which will be presented to Committee of the Whole in June. This report will outline key budget pressures and significant drivers as well as make recommendations for additional budget investments to address key risks, increase or enhance service levels or address operational challenges.

Draft Budget timelines

Further refinement of the 2025 budget process and timelines will be undertaken prior to reporting back to June COW including the opportunity to consider alternative service delivery priorities and multi-year budget impacts.

 Budget Motion Memorandums Forms

Similar to the process used in previous years, should a Member of Council wish to propose an amendment to the Mayor’s Proposed 2025 Budget, they are requested to prepare a Motion Memorandum. This memo will include the rationale for any proposed Page 4 of Report Number: F-19-24 budget amendment.

These Motion Memorandums will provide other members of Council and as well as the public, greater clarity as to why an amendment is being proposed and the rationale for the budget change request.

Motion Memorandums are due to Finance by 4:30 pm on November 11, 2024, to allow sufficient time for inclusion into the Budget Committee agenda of November 18, 2024. These Motion Memorandums will form the basis for the agenda to review the Mayor’s 2025 Proposed Budget.

 Revised Budget Book Format

The 2024 budget approval process was a year of transition given that the Province of Ontario only extended Strong Mayor Powers to Burlington on July 1, 2023. As this change occurred well into the budget development process there was limited time to make significant alterations to the process.

As a result, the traditional staff proposed budget was renamed to the Financial Needs and Multi-year Forecast and the budget book was aligned with those figures.

The Mayor used this document for reference purposes when preparing the Budget and outlined in a table the differences between the Financial Needs and Multi-year Forecast and the Mayor’s Proposed Budget.

We heard from members of Council and the public that this reconciliation between the two items was extremely detailed and cumbersome to manage. Additionally, we heard that the overall length of the budget book at over 730+ pages was not user friendly as a review document.

As a result of this feedback two significant changes will be made for the 2025 Budget process.

When the Financial Needs and Multi-year Forecast is presented at June COW, it will include a comprehensive staff report and presentation but will not include a lengthy reference document. When the Mayor’s Proposed budget is presented, it will include a detailed budget book fully aligned to those figures.

The format of the budget book will be condensed. Service Business Plans will no longer be included in the budget book but will be replaced with streamlined content focusing on current service delivery and operations, emerging opportunities and risks, key service investments and an operational financial summary of the service-based budget. Also included for each service will be headline measures which demonstrate and depict service performance. Finally, the 10-year capital investments will be included at the service level.

A sample of the revised budget book content for a single service is set out below.

 

 

Financial Matters:

The approved 2024 Budget invested $346.2M into delivering city services to the community and $88.6M into the capital program to renew aging infrastructure and invest in new community assets.

The budget process provides a venue in which decisions are aligned and made to ensure an appropriate balance between affordability, maintaining/enhancing service levels and financial sustainability is achieved over the long term.

The Financial Needs and Multi-year Forecast will be prepared to recognize key budget drivers including ongoing inflationary pressures as well as investments required to stabilize service delivery. It will also make recommendations for increased funding to key areas to address the needs of our growing community.

This Financial Needs and Multi-year forecast will inform the Mayor with detailed information while providing sufficient time to prepare her 2025 Proposed Budget.

 Climate Implications:

The impacts of a changing climate can have a significant impact on the City’s budget. For example, increasing extreme weather events such as wind, freezing rain, extreme heat and cold can result in operational expenditures due to clean-up costs, more frequent emergency response and recovery efforts, and unbudgeted impacts to infrastructure requiring repairs and/or replacement.

Similarly, efforts to mitigate climate change can have a budgetary impact. Investments in renewable energy, electric vehicle charging infrastructure and public transit help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

 Engagement Matters:

The city will continue to use existing online engagement tools such as survey opportunities on GetInvolvedBurlington.ca.

A Budget Townhall is also planned for November 6, 2024.

The results of all public engagement will be reported back to Council as part of the Mayor’s Proposed Budget and in advance of the budget review process.

The Open Book platform will also be used to present the budget and allow the public to view the budget data in an interactive and intuitive format.

A communications strategy will also be developed in conjunction with the presentation of the Proposed Budget.

 This reported presents preliminary 2025 Budget approval timelines as well as outlines an update to the format of the budget book documents.