July 7, 1998

  To:Corporate Services Committee

 From:Commissioner, Works and Emergency Services and President, The Toronto Parking Authority

 Subject:Transfer of Parking Operations to the Toronto Parking Authority

 Purpose:

 To give effect to By-law No. 28-1998 passed by City Council at its meeting of February 6, 1998, by resolving issues respecting the transfer of responsibility for off-street municipal parking operations and on-street metered parking operations within the former municipalities to the Toronto Parking Authority. This transfer will provide for efficiencies in the operation of parking functions and provide for a more transparent service to the public. The transfer will also provide significant additional revenues for the City.

 Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

 Funding required to give effect to the transfer is available from parking revenues.

 Recommendations:

 It is recommended that:

(1)City Council authorize the President of the Toronto Parking Authority and the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services to review enforcement functions with respect to existing off-street municipal parking facilities within the City of Toronto and transfer enforcement responsibilities as necessary.

 (2)City Council authorize the City Solicitor to review any existing by-laws establishing regulations for off-street municipal parking facilities and prepare a by-law to make any amendments as may be required to allow the Parking Authority to assume enforcement functions.

 (3)City Council delegate to the Toronto Parking Authority the maintenance, operation and management of all City off-street municipal and on-street metered parking facilities subject to the following limitations:

(a)Only City Council shall pass by-laws for the purposes of regulating the installation and operation of on-street meters, including the setting of a range of rates for such meters.

 (b)City Council authorize the Authority's Board of Directors to fix rates at on-street metered locations providing:

1. rates are fixed at $2.00 per hour or less; and
2. the effected Ward Councillors concur with the proposed rates.

 Proposed rate changes which do not comply with the above two criteria will be subject to Council approval.

 (c)That the equipment identified in Tables 3 and 4 presently utilized by the Commissioner for the maintenance, operation and management of on-street metered parking shall be allocated for use by the Parking Authority for this purpose.

 (d)That the facilities identified in Table 5 presently occupied by the Commissioner and utilized for the maintenance, operation and management of on-street metered parking be made available for use by the Parking Authority on an interim basis, subject to a compensation agreement being negotiated with the appropriate City officials.

 (e)That, in respect to the vehicles transferred from the City to the Parking Authority, the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services, the Chief Financial Officer and City Treasurer and the President, Toronto Parking Authority negotiate a compensation agreement.

 (f)That the effective date of the transfer of responsibilities and assets be August 31, 1998.

 (4)City Council designate the off-street municipal parking facilities in the former City of Scarborough and the former City of Etobicoke as being under the management, operation and control of the Parking Authority subject to the limitation that these lands and buildings shall not be used or developed by the Parking Authority for any other purpose, except with the consent of City Council.

 (5)City Council authorize the City Solicitor to prepare the required amendments to By-law No. 28-1998, being "A By-law Respecting the Toronto Parking Authority", to implement these recommendations.

 (6)City Council authorize the Commissioner and the Parking Authority, in consultation with the City Solicitor, to review and negotiate the transfer or cancellation of any existing agreements with third parties with respect to the operation, including enforcement functions, of any off-street municipal parking facilities to be assumed by the Toronto Parking Authority according to the terms of those agreements and as required by the Parking Authority.

 (7)City Council delete the positions identified in Table 1 from the City's position establishment

effective the date the parking responsibilities are transferred from the City to the Parking Authority.

(8)City Council authorize the allocation of up to $670,000 from the 1998 on-street parking meter operations of the former City of Toronto to replace the depleted funds previously allocated to capital projects from the Parking Meter Reserve Fund.

 (9)City Council authorize the appropriate staff to transfer all costs and revenues incurred during 1998 for off-street municipal parking facilities and on-street metered parking by the former municipalities, (subject to recommendation (8) above), to the Toronto Parking Authority for recording in the Authority's books, in accordance with the approved 1998 Operating Budget and that the operations in the City's accounts be closed effective October 31, 1998.

 Council Reference/Background History:

 At its meeting of February 6, 1998, Council passed By-law No. 28-1998, "a By-law Respecting the Toronto Parking Authority". Among other provisions, this By-law directed that:

 "All the powers, rights, authorities and privileges, now or hereafter conferred upon the City by any general or special purpose Act with respect to the construction, maintenance, operation and management of parking facilities within the City of Toronto including on-street metered parking facilities shall be exercised by the Parking Authority."

 The covering report to the enabling by-law identified the need for a transition process to be undertaken by the Parking Authority and appropriate City staff to effect the transfer of parking operations from the City's departmental structure to the Authority. In this regard, discussions have been held between the Authority, the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services and the City Solicitor's office. These discussions have identified the various matters which need to be addressed in the transition. The matters and the necessary actions are itemized and described below.

1. Staffing Issues

The Authority retained the firm of Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart to develop a strategy to address the staffing issues arising from the transfer of parking operations from the Department of City Works Services to the Authority. In consultation with the Commissioner of Human Resources for the City, they identified a total of 33 employees engaged in the delivery of parking services which were members of Local 416, one employee who is a member of Local 79 and 4 employees in Etobicoke who have recently achieved certification but do not have a Collective Agreement in place. In addition, there are nine administration and management employees who are not covered by collective bargaining agreements.

 The Authority's Board of Directors considered the transition labour issues at its meeting of May 11, 1998 and adopted a staffing plan which would require the addition of 47 employees to the existing Parking Authority staff component to provide the delivery of services identified in the enabling by-law. The Board agreed to staff the new positions by way of the following process:

• Any new positions would be offered firstly to employees of the former North York Transportation Department who had been assigned to the Parking Authority of North York, and staff of the other municipalities who had been engaged in delivering parking services;

• Should the above first step fail to fill the available positions, the remaining positions would be offered to all other employees of the City of Toronto;

• Should this still not provide sufficient staff, the Authority would hire from outside the existing City staff complement.

Any employees of the City of Toronto who choose to accept employment with the Toronto Parking Authority would retain their seniority and current pay rates. However, both the unionized and non-unionized staff would be expected to accept the terms and conditions for employment which cover the existing Toronto Parking Authority employees. For example, the City employees in Local 416 would now be covered by the Authority's Collective Agreement.

 Upon Council approval of the transfer of the operations to the Toronto Parking Authority, the applicable Union will be notified of the City's intention to delete the positions listed in Table 1. While the applicable Collective Agreements vary with respect to notifying the Union of the deletion of positions, for purposes of consistency and fairness all applicable Unions shall be placed on notice. Following the provision of notice to the Unions, any employee who has declined employment with, or is not offered employment by the Toronto Parking Authority shall be offered the Council approved bargaining unit separation program or the non-union position termination package, depending upon the employee's status.

 In the event that bargaining unit employees identified as surplus decline the separation package, the City will consult with the applicable Union to determine whether there are other existing vacant positions for which the employee may be suitable, with or without a short period of training or reskilling, and the extent to which the employee may occupy such a position without further posting and competition. Should there be no available position, the applicable Collective Agreement provisions with respect to notice of layoff, and layoff and recall shall then be applied. As the layoffs will be of a permanent nature, the affected employees are entitled to the severance provisions of the Employment Standards Act.

 In the event that non-union employees identified as surplus decline the separation package, to the extent that there are suitable non-union positions available for competition at the time, a reasonable period of time will be allotted for the opportunity to compete for the positions, following which employment may then be terminated under the position termination program.

1. Vehicles and Equipment

 Works and Emergency Services compiled an inventory of all vehicles and equipment currently being utilized to deliver the transferred parking services (Table 2). A total of 17 vehicles were identified in this inventory. An additional nine are available from the Parking Authority of North York. Upon reviewing the inventory, the Authority determined that it required all but one of the North York vehicles and the additional five City vehicles identified on Table 2. The Authority is proposing to purchase the vehicles from the City at the depreciated value as fixed by the current accounting procedures. The identified vehicles that are not being purchased by the Parking Authority will be returned to the City's Fleet Management Services for reassignment or sale.

1. Parking Meters and Other Parking Equipment

 Table 3 itemizes the meters, housings and spare parts currently in the field and in stores. Table 4 identifies other equipment utilized in the parking function. These items will be transferred to the Toronto Parking Authority inventory. As this equipment was purchased with money generated from parking operations it was agreed that no compensation is required to be paid.

1. Off-Street Parking Garages and Lots

 The Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services has compiled the background materials regarding the manner by which off-street facilities were established in the amalgamated municipalities. This information will be provided to the City Solicitor to determine what, if any, legislative action is required by Council to effect the transfer. The former municipalities of Scarborough and Etobicoke have indicated that the development rights are not being transferred. As Council has not delegated development rights at any of the Authority's existing facilities, this is consistent with current practices.

1. Operations Facilities

 The Parking Authority has indicated to the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services that it may wish to utilize the facilities such as works yards associated with the transferred services on an interim basis. The facilities are identified on Table 5. The Authority plans to rationalize the service delivery over the near term and make a determination as to which facilities will need to be retained. An interim financial arrangement is being negotiated.

1. Contracts

 Works and Emergency Services are compiling an inventory of all existing contracts in place for parking related services and will be providing this inventory to the Authority. The Authority will review the terms of these contracts with the intention to make a decision as to which need to be retained or revised. The Authority intends to consolidate these contracts as soon as practicable.

1. Approval Process For On-Street Meters

 The Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services and the President of the Toronto Parking Authority jointly developed a process for the approval and installation of on-street meters. A copy of the flow chart for the process is appended as Schedule "A".

1. Meter Installation

 Staff of Works and Emergency Services will be responsible for installing and repairing the meter poles. The Authority will be responsible for the installation of the meter heads. Staff of the two organizations will co-ordinate the installation to ensure that the work is completed in a timely fashion. Works and Emergency Services will utilize a fee for services system to charge the Authority for work performed, with the fee to be based on the City's cost.

1. Revenue Transfer

 The revenue sharing agreement between the Authority and the City is the subject of a separate report which was submitted to Budget Review and approved by City Council at its meeting held on June 3, 4, and 5, 1998.

1. Parking Meter Reserve (Former City of Toronto)

 In 1996 and 1997, shortfalls in the budgeted revenue levels from on-street meter operations in the former City of Toronto required off-setting contributions from the parking meter reserve fund. Since the reserve balance was previously committed as a funding source for capital projects, funds totaling $670,000 should be provided from 1998 on-street meter operations to replace the depleted capital funds originally approved from the Parking Meter Reserve of the former City of Toronto.

1. Transfer of 1998 Expenditures and Revenues

 In accordance with Council's approval of the enabling by-law which authorizes the Toronto Parking Authority to manage and operate both off-street and on-street metered parking, the approved 1998 Operating Budget for the Parking Authority was based on the annual estimates for both off-street facilities and on-street metered parking. Pending the transfer of responsibility, the former municipalities continued to record expenses and revenues associated with off-street and on-street operations in their respective accounts. Consequently, all costs and operations associated with off-street and on-street metered parking by the former municipalities during 1998 prior to the transfer of operations to the Parking Authority must be recorded in the Authority's books, in accordance with the approved 1998 Operating Budget, and that the operations in the City's accounts be closed effective October 31, 1998.

1. Enforcement of Parking in Off-Street Lots

 All enforcement of parking infractions in off-street facilities under the jurisdiction of the Parking Authority will be undertaken by the Authority's staff. The Parking Authority in conjunction with the City Solicitor will review the current enforcement practices and statutory authorities to determine if any changes to by-laws are required to effect this.

1. Rate Setting

 Currently, City Council has the authority to set the rates for all parking meters located on City streets. This authority provides Council with an important transportation management tool for regulating the supply and duration of on-street parking. However, decisions regarding the rates charged for parking at on-street meters can be contentious, as the needs and desires of local communities may be at odds with using meter rates to rationalize revenue generation or as a transportation management tool. As a result, on-street parking meter rates in the City tend to be lower than they would otherwise be if revenue were to be maximized or if the rates were used as a transportation management tool. One of the reasons provided in support of the Parking Authority taking over the operation of all on-street meters was the potential for Council to delegate the setting of meter rates and remove the rate setting exercise from the mainstream political arena.

Providing the Parking Authority with the ability to set rates without Council approval would allow the rates to be set in relation to parking demand and enhance revenue potential from on-street parking operations. This potential has to be weighed against the loss of direct Council input regarding the needs of local communities and the ability to use on-street parking as a tool to meet Council's strategic transportation goals.

 The City Solicitor's office has undertaken a review to determine what if any legislative steps are necessary to empower the Authority to fix rates at on-street meters. The Solicitor has advised that under the Municipal Act the power to set rates on-street cannot be delegated, however, Council is empowered to approve a range of rates within which the Authority can operate. The Authority is proposing that Council authorize rates up to $2.00 per hour to be set by the Authority in consultation with the affected Ward Councillors. These rates reflect the current range of rates in effect within the City of Toronto. The Authority would seek separate Council approval for rates above this level or where the concurrence of the impacted local Ward Councillors is not forthcoming.

1. Boulevard Parking

Responsibility for Boulevard Parking will not be transferred to the Authority under the terms of By-law No. 28-1998. At the present time, boulevard parking applications within the old City of North York are being processed by staff which were formerly assigned to the Parking Authority of North York. This function will need to be assumed by Works and Emergency Services.

 Conclusion:

 In accordance with the direction of Council at its February 6, 1998 meeting, the President of the Toronto Parking Authority and the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services have identified and resolved the issues relating to the transfer of parking services.

 Contact Names:

Maurice J. AndersonNeil Rothenberg, Amalgamation Team Leader

President, Toronto Parking AuthorityWorks and Emergency Services

Telephone:(416) 393-7276Telephone:(416) 392-8203

Facsimile:(416) 393-7352Facsimile:(416) 392-4540

   ____________________________________________________________________

Maurice J. Anderson, PresidentNeil Rothenberg, Amalgamation Team Leader

The Toronto Parking AuthorityWorks and Emergency Services

   _______________________________

Barry H. Gutteridge, Commissioner

Works and Emergency Services