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It was a marathon committee meeting — and a packed one.
Some 37 delegations waited to the make their views known to the city’s Community and Protective Services committee on issues ranging from daycare subsidies to fee increases for public swimming and skating. After a meeting that took more than seven hours, the committee passed — without a single change — a draft budget that accounts for about a third of Ottawa’s $3 billion in annual spending.
If there was a common thread in the presentations, it was that delegates don’t believe increases in the budget are enough to sustain the services needed by vulnerable people.
Community agencies are getting a 1.5 per cent increase, enough to cover the cost of living. But agencies said they are grappling with a triple threat: salary and cost increases; little or no additional money from other levels of government, as well as increased demand.
“Without more of an investment in social infrastructure, we might have to turn away residents,” said Sandy Wooley, executive director of the Nepean, Rideau and Osgoode Community Resource Centre, told the committee.
About a quarter of the delegations at the meeting spoke about changes to the way childcare subsidies are funded. Starting next year, the city will start to adopt a system that will see subsidized spaces “float” according to parental choice rather than being tethered to individual daycare centres.
About half of Ottawa daycares will benefit from the new system, while about 26 agencies will be negatively affected, according to projections. Melanie Yearington, director of the Bridlewood Child Learning Centre in Kanata, said she faces two unpalatable alternatives: increasing fees for parents or freezing salaries, which account for 85 per cent of expenses.”We are very concerned about staying viable.”
There were also concerns from arts and culture groups. Almost $30 million is allocated to this area in the 2016 budget, including a cost of living increase. But groups argued for additional incremental yearly increases that were pledged as part of the city’s strategic initiative.
City funding allows organizations to attract more money from sources such as provincial grants and corporate sponsorships, said David Jeanes of Heritage Ottawa. Cultural programs depend on this “multiplier effect,” he said.
Wooley was among the presenters who urged the city to consider increasing taxes by more than the two per cent allowed by the budget. “We support an increase in taxes for more than streets, sewers, bridges and our water supply,” she said.
Meanwhile, the figures in the draft budget also face uncertainties, including the cost of arbitrated settlements and weather conditions such as extreme heat and cold that affect vulnerable residents.
The draft budget proposes to trim 50 city jobs in 2016. Of those, 13 are in the community and protective service budget, including 12 from the fire department and one in parks and recreation. These reductions will be achieved through attrition.
This isn’t necessarily the end of hope for those looking for increased funding. If additions are made to the draft budget, other items have to be cut so tax increases remain at two per cent. Committee chair Diane Deans said changes, if there are any, won’t come forward before Dec. 9 when city council meets to pass the 2016 budget.
“It’s too early to say right now. I think councillors wanted to hear from public delegations and have some time to think about it,” she said.
查看原文...
Some 37 delegations waited to the make their views known to the city’s Community and Protective Services committee on issues ranging from daycare subsidies to fee increases for public swimming and skating. After a meeting that took more than seven hours, the committee passed — without a single change — a draft budget that accounts for about a third of Ottawa’s $3 billion in annual spending.
If there was a common thread in the presentations, it was that delegates don’t believe increases in the budget are enough to sustain the services needed by vulnerable people.
Community agencies are getting a 1.5 per cent increase, enough to cover the cost of living. But agencies said they are grappling with a triple threat: salary and cost increases; little or no additional money from other levels of government, as well as increased demand.
“Without more of an investment in social infrastructure, we might have to turn away residents,” said Sandy Wooley, executive director of the Nepean, Rideau and Osgoode Community Resource Centre, told the committee.
About a quarter of the delegations at the meeting spoke about changes to the way childcare subsidies are funded. Starting next year, the city will start to adopt a system that will see subsidized spaces “float” according to parental choice rather than being tethered to individual daycare centres.
About half of Ottawa daycares will benefit from the new system, while about 26 agencies will be negatively affected, according to projections. Melanie Yearington, director of the Bridlewood Child Learning Centre in Kanata, said she faces two unpalatable alternatives: increasing fees for parents or freezing salaries, which account for 85 per cent of expenses.”We are very concerned about staying viable.”
There were also concerns from arts and culture groups. Almost $30 million is allocated to this area in the 2016 budget, including a cost of living increase. But groups argued for additional incremental yearly increases that were pledged as part of the city’s strategic initiative.
City funding allows organizations to attract more money from sources such as provincial grants and corporate sponsorships, said David Jeanes of Heritage Ottawa. Cultural programs depend on this “multiplier effect,” he said.
Wooley was among the presenters who urged the city to consider increasing taxes by more than the two per cent allowed by the budget. “We support an increase in taxes for more than streets, sewers, bridges and our water supply,” she said.
Meanwhile, the figures in the draft budget also face uncertainties, including the cost of arbitrated settlements and weather conditions such as extreme heat and cold that affect vulnerable residents.
The draft budget proposes to trim 50 city jobs in 2016. Of those, 13 are in the community and protective service budget, including 12 from the fire department and one in parks and recreation. These reductions will be achieved through attrition.
This isn’t necessarily the end of hope for those looking for increased funding. If additions are made to the draft budget, other items have to be cut so tax increases remain at two per cent. Committee chair Diane Deans said changes, if there are any, won’t come forward before Dec. 9 when city council meets to pass the 2016 budget.
“It’s too early to say right now. I think councillors wanted to hear from public delegations and have some time to think about it,” she said.
查看原文...
