Jan 29 & 30 COUNCIL BUDGET MTG TAKEAWAYS

4-5 minute read

Note: The Jan 29 and 30 Council meetings running times total about 10 ½ hours – we have noted some pertinent video clip times below that are available on the RL Township’s Committee Meeting calendar for the date noted.  Click on the links provided and use the "time slider" at the bottom of the video player that loads to advance to the time period referenced.

Jan 29th – 2024 Operations Budget - The Mayor began the meeting and the agenda for the Special budget meeting was approved by Council. Shortly thereafter there was a motion on the floor to accept the Treasurer’s report on 2023 Year to Date Projection. Councilor Paula Banks interrupted (Jan 29/24 meeting - Video time 1:30-9:55) the Treasurer to say she needed to make a request for “something”. As it was non-specific something , while it was Out of Order, the Mayor allowed Councilor Banks to proceed at which time she wanted to put a motion on the floor to have Council support for an investigation into Rideau Lakes Grassroots group and alleged that an unnamed member(s) of Council had founded and supported that group.  She spoke of some event on the previous weekend that concerned their personal safety but only referred to an assault on a Councillor in the Council Chamber a few weeks before.  (This appears to be a reference to a previous meeting on Nov 6/23 meeting -Video time 2:21:25 to 2:21:55.) The Mayor and Clerk said that allegations of this sort should be dealt with in closed session as is appropriate and required if identifiable individuals are involved. Councilor Banks would not stop and continued until such time as the Mayor said he would not allow further discussion of anything but the agenda as set out and passed. Then Councillor Jeff Banks spoke about a letter he received over the past weekend and again, the Mayor said it would be discussed in camera at future date if required.

Information was provided by the Treasurer (Report is attached to the Jan. 30 Council agenda) on the year end projections of a surplus of $1,058,798 ($620K related to staff vacancies in 2023). Revenue is down by $ 1.26 million because of insurance proceeds related to Portland fire are coming in 2024 not 2023 and $950,000 for property purchases related to the landfill. Expenses are down by $2.3 million primarily because $1.8 million of capital work was deferred to 2024. While discussing this report both of the Councilors Banks insisted that surplus and reserves should be utilized to lessen any proposed tax rate. The Treasurer recommended that any surpluses should be moved to reserves to reduce long term debt to pay for the many capital projects (i.e. facilities, roads, bridges, etc.) facing the Township. Each department’s budget was discussed and there was discussion about the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) and the CPI (Consumer Price Index) with regards to Salaries and Benefits and any tax increase.  As many times as the Treasurer has explained the rationale behind municipalities needing reserves, both Councillors Banks seem unable or unwilling to grasp the concepts involved and continued to make that point as has been the case in discussions since November. As both Councillors Pollard and Carr had left through the meeting the decision on both was deferred to Jan. 30th. 

Jan 30th – 2024 Capital Budget Takeaways -Before the meeting could start there were three amendments to the agenda….the first to add to the agenda the decision on Salaries and Benefits pending from the previous day.  The second change was to move the discussion about the Portland Hall/Library 90% drawings and Class A estimate to later in the agenda as part of the Capital budget discussions and thirdly, Councillor Paula Banks wanted to move questions from the public to the beginning of the meeting. (Jan 30/24 meeting - Video time 0:33 to 9:38). Councillor Paula Banks wished to contravene the Procedural By-law regarding questions from the public and in her argument at one point said “to not allow them to even ask questions on what we are doing until after the fact is not democratic”. For those affiliated with Rideau Lakes Grassroots Group Councillor Banks’ statement is amusingly ironic.  In a vote only Councillors Paula and Jeff Banks wished to have the questions moved to the beginning of the meeting.

There was opposition to moving the discussion on the Portland Hall/Library to after the capital budget had been discussed. The Motion recommended by staff was to not move forward with the tender on the project until Council had reviewed the capital budget and the long term sustainability plan. In Councillor Jeff Banks’ argument to proceed he said the people who did the costing on the project ($2.5 million) are confident and to put in the budget the amount from Altered Roots and move on. In a vote the Group of 5 voted to keep it on the agenda before the discussions surrounding the capital budget had even been considered by Council, yet again against the advice of staff who understands the ramifications even though some on Council admit they do not understand the financial piece of municipal government. 

Before the Capital discussions could begin there was a decision needed on Salaries and Benefits increase for staff related to the Operations budget. It was obvious that some councilors did not know about the common practice in business of having a salary grid and/or didn’t understand it. After discussion and explanation regarding the salary grid for all Township staff, and taking into account that the current COLA is 4.2%, the majority declared their support for a 3% increase in Salaries and Benefits.

The Manager of Facilities and Parks presented his report on Portland Hall and Library 90% drawings and Class A Estimate and began with a warning to Council that the preparation for and letting of the tender was an aggressive schedule but still hoped a review of the tender applications could take place in late March or early April. There was consensus to hire a consultant to prepare the tender documents and a consultant, referred by Councillor Dunfield, although Mr. Norwood advised that consultant had not provided the information by the deadline. The next approximately 2 hours was taken up with a laundry list of additions and changes to the project. One interesting item raised by Mr. Norwood is that Council had instructed that a storm water plan not be undertaken for this project which could be interpreted as another way of keeping the project cost under $3 million which has been the goal of the Group of 5.  During the discussion of parking lot finish (pavement, gravel, chip and tar) and curbs and sidewalks, Councillor Jeff Banks indicated that “roadworks” should be not be considered for the hall/library project and should all be moved to 2025. In not doing those as part of the project they also would not be considered part of the project costs. That is in spite of the fact that without those elements the hall/library may be ignoring traffic control and accessibility issues. The motion then came to the floor “to move forward with the Portland Hall/Library pending Council’s review of the Capital Budget and the Long Term Sustainability report”.  At this point each Councillor made their sometimes acrimonious and occasionally tearful case for changing or not changing the motion. In a vote of 5-4, the tender for the library/hall would go forward without reviewing 2024 capital.  Immediately following that motion the Treasurer began the presentation on the Capital and Long Term Sustainability report. Councillor Carr left the meeting early in the Treasurer’s presentation….this will be an important note to what takes place next. 

The discussion of capital began following the presentation and each department presented their capital needs. A discussion took place on the wheeled excavator in the budget and the majority voted to proceed with it in the budget in the face of objections, mainly by both Councillors Banks, who felt it should be a less expensive backhoe instead of a wheeled excavator.

The discussion of finishing the South Elmsley park project began and Councillors Dunfield, P. Banks and J.Banks (the South Elmsley representative) wanted it cut from the budget.  Councillors Maxwell, Delaney and Mayor Hoogenboom advocated for finishing the planned work. At that point  (Jan 30/24 Meeting - Video Time 4:18-4:25) it became obvious that it had just occurred to those opposed to proceeding with the South Elmsley project were at risk of having a tie vote. A tie vote is a defeated motion and would result in the park project going ahead in 2024. Very quickly those opposed to the project argued the vote must be deferred until Councillor Carr was present. Apparently Councillor Carr was not needed for the previous vote on the more expensive wheeled excavator.

The meeting quickly adjourned and another budget meeting was scheduled February 9 so stay tuned.