- 注册
- 2002-10-07
- 消息
- 402,237
- 荣誉分数
- 76
- 声望点数
- 0
The City of Ottawa is facing a $41-million deficit by the end of 2015 after failing to collect enough property taxes to pay for services while also overspending in the water and sewer department.
Costly winter maintenance jobs, combined with millions of additional dollars needed for recent arbitration awards and increased Workplace Safety and Insurance Board charges, has city hall number-crunchers projecting a $34.5-million deficit this year on the tax-supported side of the budget.
Added to that shortfall for services paid for by property taxes is a further $6.8-million projected deficit for services paid for by utility rates, as a result of lower-than-expected water and sewer revenues, and additional expenses related to last winter’s extensive cold weather and its negative effects on infrastructure, like frozen water pipes.
The startling numbers are discussed in a dense operating and capital budget status report, which the finance and economic development committee will discuss on Tuesday. The report spans the first half of 2015.
“It’s a significant deficit and the year isn’t over yet,” said College Coun. Rick Chiarelli.
He argues that the shortfall is the result of shrinking the tax rate increase.
“The amount we had forgone by not keeping taxes to our committed level and instead being hero for a day and bringing them in at slightly lower — that difference is pretty much equal to what the deficit is,” Chiarelli said.
Mayor Jim Watson promised in 2010 to cap property tax increases at 2.5 per cent annually. But the tax rate in 2011, the first year he oversaw the budget, was 2.45 per cent. It continued to decrease throughout his first term, coming in at 1.91 per cent in 2014, an election year.
During last year’s campaign, he pledged to hold the line at two per cent throughout his second term, if re-elected. He was, and the combined property tax rate this year came in at 1.75 per cent (although the residential tax increase was 2 per cent) .
A previous staff report provided a glimpse at the potential deficits, but the situation has only worsened as a result of several recent developments.
Arbitrated awards to city workers in two unions, CUPE 503 and CIPP — the Civic Institute of Professional Personnel — were higher than expected, resulting in an additional annual cost to the city of $9.88 million.
Meanwhile, the provincial government announced last year it will expand current regulation to include six additional cancers presumed to be work-related for firefighters under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act. That’s expected to cost the city $4 million this year.
But arbitration awards aren’t the only problems.
The public works department blames its $18-million deficit on cleaning up late-winter snow storms.
Paramedics point to higher call volumes driving up the costs for ambulance supplies to help explain a $4.9-million deficit.
Bylaw blames lower revenue from parking fines for its $1.4-million hole, while parks and recreation says fewer arena rentals and a dismal job attracting sponsorship revenue explains its $2-million budget gap.
According to the report, in the first six months of this year, the city spent a whopping 77 per cent of its overtime budget for all of 2015. The overtime is reportedly due to additional hours put in by public works staff for winter maintenance, by paramedics due to higher-than-expected call volumes and in water operations in response to frozen water pipes.
The projected deficits highlighted in the report are to be offset, in part, by money saved through reduced hiring and freezing discretionary account spending, which began in July, the report says.
Although these steps will generate some savings, the report says they will not offset the full impact of the projected deficit. Finance officials say approximately $29 million may be needed from several reserve funds.
“We’ve done a lot of work to find the money to cover the deficit so it won’t hit taxpayers in the pocketbook,” said city treasurer Marian Simulik.
Up to $20 million will be available from the rate-supported capital reserve fund to cover any year-end deficit in the rate-supported water and sewer services department.
“If the goal is to maintain a steady state property tax increase of two per cent, then council will have some very difficult decisions next year,” said River Coun. Riley Brockington, adding it’s premature for him to comment on whether a two per cent tax rate is too low.
“The pressures in 2016 will be even greater than they are in 2015,” he said.
Brockington said he’s looking forward to hearing staff shed more light on the situation than what’s contained in the report.
“The explanations provided in the staff report are not strong enough, in my opinion, to warrant those missed targets,” he said.
Watson, who chairs the finance committee, wasn’t available for comment Thursday. In a written statement, his office said the mayor is “fully engaged on this issue” and “is working with senior management on both short-term solutions? to balance the books and longer-term solutions as part of the 2016 budget development effort.”
How the projected deficit adds up
These figures, for services paid by property taxes and rates, are rounded to the nearest dollar. There’s an additional $1.3-million deficit in non-departmental accounts.
mpearson@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
Costly winter maintenance jobs, combined with millions of additional dollars needed for recent arbitration awards and increased Workplace Safety and Insurance Board charges, has city hall number-crunchers projecting a $34.5-million deficit this year on the tax-supported side of the budget.
Added to that shortfall for services paid for by property taxes is a further $6.8-million projected deficit for services paid for by utility rates, as a result of lower-than-expected water and sewer revenues, and additional expenses related to last winter’s extensive cold weather and its negative effects on infrastructure, like frozen water pipes.
The startling numbers are discussed in a dense operating and capital budget status report, which the finance and economic development committee will discuss on Tuesday. The report spans the first half of 2015.
“It’s a significant deficit and the year isn’t over yet,” said College Coun. Rick Chiarelli.
He argues that the shortfall is the result of shrinking the tax rate increase.
“The amount we had forgone by not keeping taxes to our committed level and instead being hero for a day and bringing them in at slightly lower — that difference is pretty much equal to what the deficit is,” Chiarelli said.
Mayor Jim Watson promised in 2010 to cap property tax increases at 2.5 per cent annually. But the tax rate in 2011, the first year he oversaw the budget, was 2.45 per cent. It continued to decrease throughout his first term, coming in at 1.91 per cent in 2014, an election year.
During last year’s campaign, he pledged to hold the line at two per cent throughout his second term, if re-elected. He was, and the combined property tax rate this year came in at 1.75 per cent (although the residential tax increase was 2 per cent) .
A previous staff report provided a glimpse at the potential deficits, but the situation has only worsened as a result of several recent developments.
Arbitrated awards to city workers in two unions, CUPE 503 and CIPP — the Civic Institute of Professional Personnel — were higher than expected, resulting in an additional annual cost to the city of $9.88 million.
Meanwhile, the provincial government announced last year it will expand current regulation to include six additional cancers presumed to be work-related for firefighters under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act. That’s expected to cost the city $4 million this year.
But arbitration awards aren’t the only problems.
The public works department blames its $18-million deficit on cleaning up late-winter snow storms.
Paramedics point to higher call volumes driving up the costs for ambulance supplies to help explain a $4.9-million deficit.
Bylaw blames lower revenue from parking fines for its $1.4-million hole, while parks and recreation says fewer arena rentals and a dismal job attracting sponsorship revenue explains its $2-million budget gap.
According to the report, in the first six months of this year, the city spent a whopping 77 per cent of its overtime budget for all of 2015. The overtime is reportedly due to additional hours put in by public works staff for winter maintenance, by paramedics due to higher-than-expected call volumes and in water operations in response to frozen water pipes.
The projected deficits highlighted in the report are to be offset, in part, by money saved through reduced hiring and freezing discretionary account spending, which began in July, the report says.
Although these steps will generate some savings, the report says they will not offset the full impact of the projected deficit. Finance officials say approximately $29 million may be needed from several reserve funds.
“We’ve done a lot of work to find the money to cover the deficit so it won’t hit taxpayers in the pocketbook,” said city treasurer Marian Simulik.
Up to $20 million will be available from the rate-supported capital reserve fund to cover any year-end deficit in the rate-supported water and sewer services department.
“If the goal is to maintain a steady state property tax increase of two per cent, then council will have some very difficult decisions next year,” said River Coun. Riley Brockington, adding it’s premature for him to comment on whether a two per cent tax rate is too low.
“The pressures in 2016 will be even greater than they are in 2015,” he said.
Brockington said he’s looking forward to hearing staff shed more light on the situation than what’s contained in the report.
“The explanations provided in the staff report are not strong enough, in my opinion, to warrant those missed targets,” he said.
Watson, who chairs the finance committee, wasn’t available for comment Thursday. In a written statement, his office said the mayor is “fully engaged on this issue” and “is working with senior management on both short-term solutions? to balance the books and longer-term solutions as part of the 2016 budget development effort.”
How the projected deficit adds up
- Public works, $17.7-million deficit
- Water services, $5.9-million deficit
- Paramedic services, $4.9-million deficit
- Fire services, $4.7-million deficit
- Parks and recreation, $2-million deficit
- Bylaw services, $1.4-million deficit
- Social services, $1.2-million deficit
- Sewer service, $900,000 deficit
- Solid waste services, $600,000 deficit
- Housing services, $500,000 deficit
- Child care services, on budget
- Planning and infrastructure services, on budget
These figures, for services paid by property taxes and rates, are rounded to the nearest dollar. There’s an additional $1.3-million deficit in non-departmental accounts.
mpearson@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
