Members of Council and Staff:  Please keep this agenda and the accompanying material until the City Council meeting dealing with these matters has ended.  The City Clerk’s Office will not provide additional copies.

Special Assistance for Members of the Public:  City staff can arrange for special assistance with some advance notice.  If you need special assistance, please call (416-392-5227), TTY 416‑338-0889 or e-mail buc@toronto.ca.

Closed Meeting Requirements:  If the Budget Committee wants to meet in closed session (privately), a member of the committee must make a motion to do so and give the reason why the Committee has to meet privately. (City of Toronto Act, 2006)

Notice to people writing or making presentations to the Budget Committee:  The City of Toronto Act, 2006 and the City of Toronto Municipal Code authorize the City of Toronto to collect any personal information in your communication or presentation to City Council or its committees.

The City collects this information to enable it to make informed decisions on the relevant issue(s). If you are submitting letters, faxes, e‑mails, presentations or other communications to the City, you should be aware that your name and the fact that you communicated with the City will become part of the public record and will appear on the City’s website. The City will also make your communication and any personal information in it – such as your postal address, telephone number or e-mail address – available to the public, unless you expressly request the City to remove it.

The City videotapes committee and community council meetings. If you make a presentation to a committee or community council, the City will be videotaping you and City staff may make the video tapes available to the public.

If you want to learn more about why and how the City collects your information, write to the City Clerk’s Office, City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, Toronto ON M5H 2N2 or by calling 416-392-7340.

Declarations of Interest under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act

Communications/Reports

The Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer recommends that:

1.         City Council approve the budget and technical adjustments to its 2009 Approved Capital Budget as detailed in Appendix 2 attached to the report (March 22, 2010) from the Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer.

2.         City Council approve carry forward funding for unspent 2009 capital projects totalling $180.326  million gross and funding sources as detailed in Appendix 3.1 to the report (March 22, 2010) from the Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer, in order to continue work on 2009 approved capital projects, and that the 2010 Approved Capital Budget be increased accordingly with no incremental impact on debt funding.

3.         City Council approve carry forward funding for unspent 2008 and prior year capital projects totalling $17.445 million with no incremental increase to the 2010 Council approved debt funding as detailed in Appendix 3.2 to the report (March 22, 2010) from the Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer, and that the 2010 Approved Capital Budget be adjusted accordingly.

4.         City Council approve the closure of completed capital projects detailed in Appendix 4 to the report (March 22, 2010) from the Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer, and that uncommitted funds from under-spent completed projects be utilized to fund overspent completed projects with no incremental impact on debt, after which any remaining unspent funds be returned to the original funding source.

5.         City Council request the Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer to report back to the Budget Committee on any changes to the City of Toronto’s 2009 year-end financial position after the external audit of the 2009 financial statements is finalized, if necessary.

6.         The Budget Committee forward this report to the Executive Committee for its consideration.

The purpose of this report is to provide the City of Toronto 2009 Preliminary Capital Variance for the year-ended December 31, 2009 and to request Council’s approval for budget adjustments which reallocate funds between projects with no incremental impact on its 2009 Approved Capital Budget.  This report is provided in advance of concluding the external audit of the City’s accounting information, therefore, if necessary, a final report will be submitted to Council after the 2009 financial statements are finalized.

City of Toronto capital expenditures for the year-ended December 31, 2009 totalled $1.988 billion or 67.5% of the 2009 Approved Capital Budget of $2.943 billion.  The under-spending is primarily attributed to the inability to find and secure suitable sites in accordance with the planned timeframes; delays in securing funds from cost-sharing partners; unanticipated delays in construction start-up and deferral of work; and the impact of the labour disruption. In addition, several projects were completed under-budget. Unspent funds for incomplete projects will be carried forward to 2010 on an as required basis, in accordance with the City’s Carry Forward Policy

Tax Supported Programs spent $1.436 billion, representing 61.5% of their collective 2009 Approved Capital Budget of $2.334 billion (see Appendix 1).  City Operations spent $533.565 million or 53.1% of the 2009 Approved Capital Budget of $1.006 billion; while Agencies, Boards and Commissions (ABCs) spent $902.442 million or 68.0% of their collective 2009 Approved Capital Budget of $1.328 billion.  In total, Rate Supported Programs spent $551.688 million or 90.6% of their 2009 Approved Capital Budget of $609.025 million (see Chart 1 in the report). 

Advising that City Council on February 22 and 23, 2010 adopted this Item as amended, and in so doing requested the Budget Committee to consider several options to remedy the deficiency found in the 2009 Operating Budget process, including:

a.         converting the committee briefings into open meetings held in compliance with COTA and the Procedures By-law;

b.         holding the committee briefings in a closed session of a meeting of the Budget Committee for the purpose of “education” in compliance with COTA and the Procedures By-law, including opening and closing the meeting in public, providing notice, with the presence of staff of the City Clerk to monitor and take minutes; or

c.         discontinuing the committee briefings stage of the budget process, and adopting some other process, ensuring that such a process complies with COTA and the Procedures By-law.

City Council also requested the Budget Committee to submit its recommendations on this matter to the May 11, 2010 meeting of City Council, through the Executive Committee.

The General Manager, Transportation Services recommends that:

1.         City Council authorize the reallocation of funds in the Transportation Services’ 2010 Capital Budget and 2011-2019 Capital Plan in the amount of $13,000,000, with cash flows in the amount of $3,150,000  for 2010 and $9,850,000 for 2011 detailed in Table 1, Part A, attached to the report (February 26, 2010) from the General Manager, Transportation Services, with a zero gross and net impact.

2.         City Council authorize the decrease in project costs  and corresponding cash flow in 2010,  in the amount of $5,000,000 detailed in Table 1, Part B, attached to the report (February 26, 2010) from the General Manager, Transportation Services, resulting in a reduction of $5,000,000 gross, zero net of the 2010 Approved Budget for Transportation Services.

3.         The appropriate City Officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto.

The Transportation Services Division is recommending the reallocation of funds, within the 2010 Approved Capital Budget and 2011-2019 Capital Plan, in order to better align cash flows with program requirements. The impact on project costs resulting from the cash flow reallocations for this report is a decrease of $5,000,000 million essentially for third party work that will not be carried-out this year or next. This is the second such report for 2010 and involves the reallocation of 2010 and 2011 approved cash flows along with a corresponding acceleration and increase within other Transportation Services Capital Budget items that yield a zero net impact on the approved debt target for 2010.

Funding in the total amount of $13,000,000 with cash flows of $3,150,000 and $9,850,000, in 2010 and 2011 respectively, already approved within the Transportation Services’ 2010 Capital Budget and 2011-2019 Capital Plan will be reallocated between various projects for a number of reasons, as outlined in the body of this report, with a zero net impact corporately (Table 1, Part “A”)  The approval of this report will also authorize a reduction of $5,000,000 in the Program’s 2010 Approved Capital Budget for third party work that will not be carried out in 2010, with a zero impact on the Program’s debt funding.  Transportation Services staff, in advance  of the upcoming 2011 budget process and consistent with the Divisional submission, has reassessed all ongoing and imminent project cash flows and all available funding sources in order that the realign project costs will have no net impact on the approved ten year debt targets for Transportation Services.

The Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.

The General Manager of Parks, Forestry and Recreation recommends that:

1.         City Council grant authority to reduce the 2009 fixed rent receivables for the properties noted in Appendix “A” of the report (March 3, 2010) from the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation for existing Lease and Licence Agreements within the Parks, Forestry and Recreation Business Services Unit to offset the financial loss incurred due to the 2009 labour disruption, for an overall reduction of $831,064.

2.         City Council grant authority to reduce the rent to those tenants listed in Appendix “A” of the report (March 3, 2010) from the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation after payment in full of any outstanding rent and related property tax.

The Toronto Transit Commission recommends that:

1.         City Council approve additional in-year project cost commitment of $2,148.829 million on this fully funded, stand-alone project, bringing the total commitment up to the approved project cost for the TYSSE Project to $2,634.171 million.

Advising that the Toronto Transit Commission, at its meeting on Wednesday, March 24, 2010, considered the report, entitled “Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension Project – Request for Full Project Commitment Approval”, and took the following action:

1.         Approved an increase of $2.149 billion in project approval for the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE) Project.

2.         Forwarded the report to the City of Toronto for City Council approval.