May 13, 1998
To:Special Committee to Review the Final Report of the Toronto Transition Team
From:Chief Administrative Officer
Subject:Progress Report on the Special Committee=s Workplan
Purpose:
The purpose of this report is to:
i.provide a summary review of the actions taken by the Special Committee since its creation in January 1998;
ii.review the progress of outstanding items on the Special Committee=s workplan; and
iii.recommend the disposition of certain matters that were referred to the Special Committee.
Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:
The recommendations in this report have no financial impact.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that:
(1)the Special Committee take no further action on the recommendations of the Toronto Transition Team that deal with
administrative and public policy matters, listed in Appendix A to this report;
(2)the recommendations of the Toronto Transition Team that deal with administrative and public policy matters, listed in
Appendix A to this report, be referred to the CAO and Commissioners for information and consideration, if appropriate, in
their respective areas of responsibility;
(3)the Special Committee=s mandate continue for the remainder of 1998 to enable it to complete the outstanding items on
its workplan;
(4)the major focus for the Special Committee=s work in the coming months be on the review of governance, including the
interconnected and complex issues related to citizen involvement and governance structures; and
(5)the appropriate City Officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto.
Council Reference/Background/History:
Council created the Special Committee to Review the Final Report of the Toronto Transition Team at the meeting held on
January 2, 6, 8 and 9, 1998. Council referred all motions with respect to the Transition Team Report and the Interim
Procedural By-law to the Special Committee. Council requested the Special Committee to report on the Transition Team=s
recommendations to the May 1998 meeting of Council. This report responds to Council=s request.
On February 4, 5 and 6, 1998 Council adopted Clause No. 1 of Report No. 1 of the Special Committee, entitled ATerms of
Reference for the Special Committee to Review the Final Report of the Toronto Transition Team.@ The Clause identified
the following six priority areas in the Special Committee=s workplan:
(i)confirmation of the location of the seat of government;
(ii)definition of the role of Community Councils and their relationship to the rest of the Council structure;
(iii)definition of the basic Council-Committee structure;
(iv)reinforcement of mechanisms for citizen involvement in the City=s governance;
(v)development of the Council Procedural By-law; and
(vi)definition of the basic administrative structure.
These matters are all concerned with the basic structures and processes of municipal government in Toronto. This report
describes the progress made by the Special Committee in the six priority areas.
The Transition Team also made many recommendations that were concerned with administrative minutiae and matters of
public policy that form the normal business of the City=s administration and of Council and its Committees. This report
identifies which of the Transition Team=s recommendations fall into this category and proposes how Council should
dispose of them.
Comments and/or Discussion and/or Justification:
Location of the Seat of Government:
The Special Committee considered the seat of government at its first meeting on January 28, 1998. Subsequently, on
February 4, 5 and 6, 1998 Council adopted the Special Committee=s recommendations that:
(a)Toronto City Hall be approved as the permanent, long-term location for City Council; and
(b)Expenditures totaling $5.2 million be authorized to cover the renovations to the Council Chamber, Members= offices
and Committee rooms to facilitate a move by the end of 1998.
Staff were directed to investigate longer-term options for the creation of a civic centre complex. The CAO was requested
to report to the Special Committee on a process for public participation in planning the redesign of Toronto City Hall. In
addition, the Commissioner of Finance was requested to submit a report to the Special Committee on the ability to finance
underground connections to the City Hall complex through the lease or sale of commercial space.
Council also requested the Special Committee to establish a sub-committee to:
(a)report back on details for the relocation of all Members of Council, such report to address the timeframe and
construction details; and
(b)address the issue of how to phase in the funding of the $5.2 million cost for the renovations over one year.
On February 13, 1998 the Special Committee appointed Councillors Moeser (Chair), Johnston, Kelly, Lindsay-Luby,
Moscoe and Rae to the Sub-committee to Consider the Relocation of All Members of Council to City Hall.
The Sub-committee met on March 19, 1998 to review conceptual options and floorplans for the renovation to the Council
Chamber, Councillors= offices and meeting rooms. On April 24, 1998 the Sub-committee reported on its deliberations to
the Special Committee and recommended approval of a schedule for:
(a)upgrading the Council Chamber to improve seating and the technology for Council operations;
(b)improving access to the Council Chamber with links to the City Hall towers, and increasing the number of washrooms
in the vicinity of the Council Chamber;
(c)improving meeting space by adding new, larger meeting rooms and adding audio-visual facilities;
(d)adding offices to accommodate all Members of council;
(e)improving the Mayor=s offices; and
(f)relocating the CAO, commissioners and other key staff to Toronto City Hall,
by the end of December, 1998. In addition, on April 24, 1998 the Special Committee voted to recommend to Council that
the terms of reference of the Sub-Committee be amended to permit it to review the long-term options for the civic centre
proposal and its process. These recommendations were before Council on May 13, 1998.
Role of Community Councils:
The Special Committee has considered a number of specific issues related to Community Councils. The Committee has
also commenced a comprehensive review of the roles and responsibilities of Community Councils.
On February 19, 1998 Members of the Special Committee attended a meeting of the East York Community Council to
hear deputations on the issue of the number of political representatives on the East York Community Council.
Subsequently, on February 26, 1998 the Special Committee reviewed this matter. The Special Committee=s
recommendation that a third Councillor be granted to Ward One, East York, was adopted by Council on April 16, 1998.
On February 26, 1998 the Special Committee recommended a number of changes to the procedures governing the conduct
of Community Council meetings, including the authority to:
(a)establish sub-committees of Community Councils;
(b)delegate planning matters and statutory hearings to such sub-committees; and
(c)hold recorded votes at Community Council meetings.
These changes, which are intended to provide for greater flexibility and accountability at Community Council meetings,
were adopted by Council on March 4, 5 and 6, 1998. At the same time, Council also adopted a Special Committee
recommendation to endorse the principle of treating Community Council reports as Aconsent agendas@ at Council
meetings.
Because of the considerable public interest and debate about the role that Community Councils should play in the City=s
governance structure, the Special Committee initiated a process of workshops and public consultation to assist it in
reaching conclusions in this matter.
On February 23, 1998 staff organized a half-day workshop on the roles and responsibilities of Community councils for
Members of the special Committee and the Chairs of the Community Councils. The workshop included staff presentations
on the context of legislative parameters and governance principles and objectives affecting Community councils. Using
ideas that were generated at the workshop and in communications to the Special Committee, staff prepared a discussion
paper on the roles and responsibilities of Community Councils.
The Special Committee considered the discussion paper and heard related deputations from the public on February 26,
1998. The Committee recommended amendments to the discussion paper and proposed a variety of methods for obtaining
public comments on the role of Community Councils, using the discussion paper as a focal point. Council adopted the
Committee's recommendations on March 4, 5 and 6, 1998.
The Special Committee's report and recommendations to the Council meeting on March 4, 5 and 6, 1998 responded to
Council=s request, on January 2, 6, 8 and 9, 1998, that the Special Committee report to Council in March on the roles and
responsibilities of Community Councils.
The discussion paper, including a short questionnaire soliciting comments, was distributed to Members of Council and to
the public through the Special Committee's mailing list, the City's Civic Service Centres and public libraries. It was also
posted on the City's website on the Internet.
The Special Committee hosted focus groups on April 6, 7 and 8, 1998. The focus groups examined:
(a)the role of Community Councils in recreation services;
(b)the role of Community Councils in planning and development control; and
(c)the concept of neighbourhood report cards.
Seventy-six people participated in the focus group discussions.
The discussion paper was also referred to the six Community Councils for consideration and community input. The
Community Councils were scheduled to hold public meetings in April and May and then report back to the Special
Committee.
A staff report describing the outcome of the public consultation on the roles and responsibilities of Community Councils
will be submitted to the Special Committee for consideration at its meeting on May 22, 1998. The report will recommend
steps that may be taken in the short term to clarify the mandates and improve the functioning of the Community Councils.
It will also consider the role of Community Councils within the broader context of the City=s overall governance structures
and opportunities for citizen involvement in municipal government.
Council-Committee Structure:
On January 2, 6, 8 and 9, 1998 Council adopted an interim committee structure based largely on the recommendations in
the Transition Team's Final Report. As part of its mandate, the Special Committee must review this structure and make
recommendations to Council. In addition, Council created a new Standing Committee called the Economic Development
Committee and requested the Special Committee to develop terms of reference for it.
On April 3, 1998 the Special Committee considered terms of reference for the Economic Development Committee. The
Special Committee's recommendations were before Council on May 13, 1998.
The Council-Committee structure is possibly the most visible aspect of the City's governance structure. However, there are
many other components of the political decision-making system. These include task forces, special committees and special
purpose agencies, boards and commissions.
On January 2, 6, 8 and 9, 1998 Council established eight task forces and special committees based on recommendations by
the Toronto Transition Team and requested the Special Committee to review their terms of reference. As discussed in the
following section on "Citizen Involvement in the City's Governance," Council considered the terms of reference and the
Special Committee's recommendations on March 4, 5 and 6, 1998 and April 16, 1998. In reviewing the terms of reference,
the Special Committee agreed with the CAO's conclusion that the task forces had been established without any input from
the Standing Committees, to whose policy envelopes they relate, or the staff departments that must provide resources to
support them. To ensure that task forces are employed as an effective and relevant policy tool of Council and its
Committees, the Special Committee has directed the CAO to report to the Special Committee on a process for the
establishment of task forces to be followed in the future.
To date, the Special Committee has also reviewed and submitted recommendations to Council regarding the governance
structures of the following agencies, boards and commissions:
(a)The Special Committee's recommendations for an interim structure for the Metro Toronto Housing Company limited
and the City of Toronto Non-Profit Housing Corporation, to facilitate the amalgamation of the two agencies, were adopted
as amended by Council on February 4, 5 and 6, 1998.
(b)On February 4, 5 and 6, 1998 Council adopted the Special Committee=s recommendations regarding the structure and
mandate for the Toronto Parking Authority.
(c)On February 13, 1998 the Special Committee requested the CAO to report on governance structures for Arts and
Heritage. These reports are in preparation and will be submitted to a forthcoming meeting of the Special Committee.
(d)On April 28 and May 1, 1998 the Special Committee's recommended structure for the Toronto Library Board was
adopted as amended by Council.
(e)On April 24, 1998 the Special Committee considered a proposal to reorganize the Toronto Licensing Commission. The
Committee's recommendations were before Council on May 13, 1998.
On March 9, 1998 the Chair of the Special Committee sent a short questionnaire to all Members of Council requesting
comments and suggestions regarding the Council-Committee structure. Ten Members of Council responded to the
questionnaire. The CAO will submit a report to a forthcoming meeting of the Special Committee outlining a process for the
review of the City's governance structures.
Citizen Involvement in the City' s Governance:
On February 4, 5 and 6, 1998 Council adopted the Special Committee's recommendations for an Interim Policy for Citizen
Appointments to the City's agencies, boards and commissions and other special purpose bodies. The adoption of the policy
enabled the Clerk and the nominating Committee to proceed with the appointment of citizens to:
(a)the Greater Toronto Airports Authority;
(b)the Metropolitan Toronto Convention Centre Corporation;
(c)the Canadian National Exhibition Association, Municipal section;
(d)the Toronto Police services Board;
(e)the Sinking Fund Committee;
(f)the Metro Toronto Police Benefit Fund, Board of trustees;
(g)the Metro Toronto Pension Plan, Board of trustees;
(h)the Toronto Fire Department, Superannuation and Benefit Fund Committee;
(i)the Toronto Civic Employees' Pension and Benefit Fund Committee;
(j)the Toronto Parking Authority; and
(k)the Toronto District Heating Council.
Council also approved the appointment of citizens to the interim boards of the City's two municipal housing companies.
On March 4, 5 and 6, 1998 Council adopted the Special Committee's recommendations that:
(a)the term of citizen appointments to agencies, boards and commissions be for the term of the Council that appoints them
and until their successors are appointed, unless otherwise specified by legislation; and
(b)the process begin for the appointment of citizens to the boards of:
-the North York Performing Arts Centre;
-the St. Lawrence Centre for the Performing Arts; and
-the Toronto Economic Development Corporation.
At its meetings held on February 13 and 26, and April 3, 1998 the Special Committee reviewed terms of reference for the
following task forces and committees, which were established by Council on January 2, 6, 8 and 9, 1998:
(a)Task Force on Agencies, Boards and Commissions;
(b)Task Force on Community Access and Equity;
(c)Homeless Strategy Task Force;
(d)Task Force to Develop a Strategy on Issues of Concern to the Elderly;
(e)Environmental Task Force;
(f)Children's Action Committee;
(g)Task Force on Community Safety; and
(h)the World City Committee.
Council considered the terms of reference and the Special Committee's recommendations on March 4, 5 and 6, 1998 and
April 16, 1998. Most of these task forces and committees include citizen representation either directly or through reference
and advisory groups. In addition the terms of reference for the Task Force on Agencies, Boards and Commissions include
the development of an analytical framework for studying the composition of boards.
On April 24, 1998 the Special Committee voted to recommend the establishment of separate Cycling and Pedestrian
Committees. This recommendation, if adopted by Council, will provide an opportunity for structured citizen input on
cycling and pedestrian issues to the political decision-making process.
The above-noted actions by the Special Committee have an impact on citizen involvement in the City's government.
However, the Special Committee has not yet dealt with the issue in a comprehensive manner. It has become clear from
various communications to the Special Committee and the statements of many deputants that the Committee's review of
governance structures and citizen involvement must be intrinsically linked. Citizens' needs and expectations in relation to
their involvement in their City's government form an essential part of the foundation upon which the structures of the
government should be built. Accordingly a report on needs and issues related to citizen involvement is in preparation and
will be submitted by the CAO to a forthcoming meeting of the Special Committee. The report will address the linkages
between citizen involvement and governance structure.
Council Procedural By-law:
Council adopted an interim Procedural By-law at its inaugural meeting on January 2, 6, 8 and 9, 1998. The Procedural
By-law and various motions related to it were referred to the Special Committee for review. The Special Committee was
requested to submit a report on the Procedural By-law to the meeting of Council to be held in May 1998.
On February 26, 1998 the Special Committee considered procedures pertaining to Community Councils and recommended
a number of amendments to the Procedural By-law, which were adopted by Council on March 4, 5 and 6, 1998. As noted
above in the comments on the "Role of Community Councils", the amendments provide for Community Councils to be:
(a)permitted to establish sub-committees;
(b)authorized to delegate planning matters and statutory hearings to sub-committees of Community Councils, including
delegating those matters under the City Of Toronto Act, 1978; and
(c)permitted to record votes at meetings.
On May 4, 5 and 6, 1998 Council also adopted recommendations by the Special Committee endorsing the idea of
Aconsent agendas@ for Community Councils and requiring motions to be signed by Members of Council. On April 16,
1998 Council adopted a recommendation from the Special Committee that Subsection 90 (5) of the Procedural By-law be
amended to clarify that the Corporate Services Committee is responsible for recommending policies on the construction of
City buildings and properties that do not fall within the mandate of another Standing Committee.
Following a review of the motions referred by Council in January and a survey of Members of Council, on April 24, 1998
the Special Committee gave consideration to a comprehensive set of preliminary revisions to the Procedural By-law. The
Special Committee's recommendations were before Council on May 13, 1998 and include:
(a)administrative changes to the By-law intended to simplify language, clarify meanings or make minor corrections to
selected sections of the By-law; and
(b)revisions that streamline rules and procedures governing Council debate.
Amendments to portions of the By-law relating to governance and membership will be considered when the Special
Committee has concluded its review of the current governance structure, including the roles and responsibilities of Council,
Standing Committees and Community Councils.
In addition, on April 24, 1998 the Special Committee endorsed in principle the use of a presiding Member of Council and
requested staff to report further to the Special Committee on options for implementing this concept within the bounds of
legislative requirements.
The Special Committee also endorsed in principle the idea of a Municipal Hansard-like service, provided it can be
accomplished at a reasonable cost. The Special Committee requested the City Clerk to set up a working group, involving
interested citizens, to review implementation issues and report back to the Special Committee.
Definition of Basic Administrative Structure:
The Special Committee considered options for the City's overall administrative structure at its meeting on January 28,
1998 and submitted recommendations to the Council meeting held on February 4, 5 and 6, 1998. Council approved a senior
management structure consisting of a Chief Administrative Officer and six Commissioners, each of whom heads a major
department. The departments are: Community and Neighbourhood Services; Economic Development, Culture and
Tourism; Urban Planning and Development services; Works and Emergency services; Corporate Services; and Finance.
While the major part of this portion of the Special Committee's workplan is complete, staff have been requested to report
further to the Special Committee on the following items related to the administrative structure:
(a)Council directed the CAO to submit periodic progress reports to the Special Committee over the course of the year on
the implementation of the new administrative structure. In addition to advising Council, through the Special Committee, of
the general progress made in organizing the administration, the CAO was requested to comment in particular on the names
of the departments, titles used for positions below that of Commissioner and how the functions of the Strategic Directions
Secretariat that was proposed by the Transition Team are being dealt with in the administrative structure. Progress reports
will be forwarded to the Special Committee in the summer, fall and winter.
(b)Council has requested the CAO to report to the Special Committee on how support to the Community Councils will be
handled within the City=s overall administrative structure. The CAO will report on this matter to the Special Committee in
the context of the broader issue of the roles and responsibilities of Community Councils.
(c)The CAO was also directed to report to the Special Committee on how the City should handle environmental issues
from an administrative point of view. An interdepartmental staff working group, chaired by the CAO, has been set up to
support the coordination and strategic direction of environmental issues and policies. A report outlining the structure and
mandate of the working group is in preparation and will be submitted to a forthcoming meeting of the Special Committee.
Disposition of Transition Team Recommendations
That Deal with Administrative and Public Policy Matters:
The Special Committee's workplan has focused on the basic infrastructure of government in the new City. The seat of
government, Council-Committee structure, role of Community Councils, Council Procedural By-law, facilitation of citizen
involvement, and the basic administrative structure all shape the fundamental structure and processes of government.
The Transition Team had something to say about all of these matters in its Final Report. However, a good deal of the
Transition Team's report was also taken up with recommendations about the policy content of the City government's
decision-making and administrative procedures. The Transition Team=s recommendations that fall into this category are
listed in Appendix A. These recommendations propose specific policies that form the normal day-to-day business of the
elected Council and its Committees and administrative actions that fall within the normal purview of the City=s
administration. It was neither necessary nor appropriate for the Transition Team to devote so much of its work to
consideration of administrative detail and policy content. However, these parts of the Transition Team=s Final Report do
reflect the ideas of many people and organizations that provided input to the Transition Team. Many of the ideas are
consistent with actions already being taken by the administration and the Standing Committees as part of the conduct of
their normal business or have fallen within the purview of various working groups and task forces. It is recommended that
the Special Committee take no further action on the recommendations of the Toronto Transition Team that deal with
administrative and public policy matters, listed in Appendix A to this report. It is further recommended that the
recommendations listed in Appendix A to this report be referred to the CAO and Commissioners for information and
consideration, if appropriate, in their respective areas of responsibility.
Conclusions:
The Special Committee to Review the Final Report of the Toronto Transition Team was established by Council on January
2, 6, 8 and 9, 1998. Council requested the Special Committee to report back after four months. The Special Committee met
for the first time on January 28, 1998. This report summarizes the Special Committee's activities during the four months
since its creation. Much has been achieved but there is more to be done.
On April 3, 1998 the Special Committee approved a schedule of meetings through December 1998. It is recommended that
the Special Committee's mandate continue for the remainder of 1998 to enable it to complete the outstanding items on its
workplan. It is further recommended that the major focus for the Special Committee's work in the coming months be on
the review of governance, including the interconnected and complex issues related to citizen involvement and governance
structures.
During the course of the past four months, it became clear from the debate of issues that it is appropriate for the Special
Committee to move away from a reactive mode of responding to the specific recommendations in the Transition Team=s
Final Report. The Committee, in keeping with the evolution of this Council itself, has begun to examine issues from the
more general and forward-looking perspective of the governance needs of the City and its citizens. This approach will
continue and will be reflected in the consideration of the outstanding items on the Special Committee's workplan.
Michael R. Garrett
Chief Administrative Officer
Appendix A
It is recommended that the Special Committee receive the following Recommendations from the Final Report of the
Toronto Transition Team that Focus on Administrative Matters and Policy Content
RECOMMENDATION 17
Any development applications in process at the time of transition should be put on the agenda of the new community
councils as priority matters, to avoid unnecessary delays.
RECOMMENDATION 18
City Council should request that all Official Plan amendments be exempt from provincial approval, to streamline the
efficiency of the approvals process and enhance community control over local development decisions.
RECOMMENDATION 22
Meeting space should be made available in existing civic centres (i.e. the former city halls) for councillors to meet with
citizens and hold community meetings with local groups and organizations.
RECOMMENDATION 23
The new City Council, recognizing that Greater Toronto is one economic, social and environmental region, should impress
on the Province the importance of creating the Greater Toronto Services Board (GTSB) as soon as possible to provide a
forum for building a strong city-region in partnership with other municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area.
The GTSB should have a mandate to coordinate city-region growth and infrastructure investments and take joint action on
such shared interests as watershed planning and development of a solid waste strategy.
RECOMMENDATION 25
The City's contribution to the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance should complement other components of a
comprehensive marketing plan for the new City of Toronto.
RECOMMENDATION 26
City Council should make clear to the Province its strong support for implementing the pooling of social and health service
costs across the Greater Toronto Area to ensure the long-term social and economic vibrancy of the whole city-region.
RECOMMENDATION 27
City Council should ask the Province to determine, as quickly as possible, a fair distribution of GO Transit costs for
1998, based on the real costs and benefits to the six municipal partners of the entire system. There should be a reasonable
relationship between each partner's share of costs and their share of votes in major capital and operating decisions.
The Province should ensure that its proposals for deregulating the inter-city bus industry respect the fact that the GTA is a
single urban transit market.
City Council should insist that coordination of inter-regional transit by the GTSB not come at the expense of sustainable
transit services within the new City. The GTSB should not be able to shift the burden of suburban transit subsidies onto the
new City.
RECOMMENDATION 28
City Council should ask the Province to ensure that the GTSB is structured in a manner that will enable it to build on the
Environmental Assessment planning work for solid waste disposal already done in the new City and to respond to the range
of options that can be offered by the marketplace, including public/private partnerships.
RECOMMENDATION 29
City Council should ask the Province to coordinate GTA-wide discussions aimed at establishing compatible ambulance
delivery systems across the GTA. These discussions should also address the continued role of the new City's ambulance
communications centre in coordinating ambulance movements in the GTA as part of the provincial ambulance
communications network.
RECOMMENDATION 30
At a minimum, the Province should ensure uniformity of non-residential education-related property tax rates across the
GTA. This will reduce artificial incentives for businesses to relocate from the new City and would mirror the Province's
commitment to residential taxpayers.
RECOMMENDATION 52
An enterprise approach to providing internal support services should be adopted in principle, and the potential of moving to
a enterprise model of service delivery should be examined for functions within the Finance and Corporate Services cluster.
Service quality guidelines should be developed. In addition, an inventory and evaluation of best practices across the seven
former municipalities should be prepared. The new City should adopt the best ideas and models for services and their
delivery, including alternative delivery options.
The secretariat function (i.e. scheduling of meetings, preparing agendas, recording votes, doing minutes, keeping records)
of the Clerk's department and other administrative support services (for example, legal, purchasing or finance) should also
be made available, on the enterprise model, to the City's agencies, boards and commissions, where appropriate.
RECOMMENDATION 53
The new City Council should consider adopting the following principles to govern its approach to human resources
management for the amalgamation of seven municipal organizations:
- Employees are our greatest resource.
- Employees will be treated with respect and their full participation in the amalgamation process will be sought.
- Regular and effective two-way communication with employees will be established and maintained.
- Appropriate personal and career support will be provided to employees during the transition process.
- Attrition will be the primary basis for workforce reductions.
- Surplus employees will be offered retraining.
Cooperative and collaborative relationships will be sought with unions and other employee groups.
RECOMMENDATION 54
On a priority basis, a comprehensive human resources strategy should be prepared to support the new City=s
corporate priorities for building a new organization.
RECOMMENDATION 55
Council should initiate discussions as soon as possible with the City's bargaining agents on the issue of the rationalization
of bargaining units in the new City. Should some of the bargaining units be unable to agree on a bargaining agent, Council
should be prepared to make application to the Ontario Labour Relations Board for a determination.
RECOMMENDATION 56
The corporation of the new City should make a commitment to access and equity in all its operations. The Access and
Equity unit within the Human Resources Department should work to entrench principles of access and equity in the
corporation and liaise with community groups to create greater understanding of issues and concerns across the new City.
(Part of ) RECOMMENDATION 63
A long-term comprehensive asset management plan should be prepared to ensure the preservation of municipal assets and
enable the City to project its funding requirements. A process for asset management coordination at the department level
should be developed and an asset preservation reserve fund should be established to include a portion of the sale of
municipal assets.
Policies governing office space standards and the disposal of moveable assets should be developed early in 1998.
RECOMMENDATION 64
An inventory and review of all City vehicles and vehicle maintenance and repair facilities should be completed as soon as
possible.
The City should review the potential to gain efficiencies in the size, use and repair of its vehicle fleet through a corporate
fleet management service. Delivery of this internal service should continue to be located in facilities across the City.
RECOMMENDATION 65
The information technology function in the Finance and Corporate Services departmental cluster should be responsible for
building an information technology network incorporating the best features of existing networks. The City should establish
centralized administration of corporate information technology, with decentralized delivery of services. All client
departments should be involved in a customer-driven approach to establishing corporate information technology systems.
A shared corporate database should be designed and maintained as a corporate resource through a cooperative effort with
City departments and agencies. This corporate-wide information system would be accessible to all departments and
agencies and could also be made available to the public with appropriate security measures in place.
Corporate standards for information technology should be established, in consultation with all City departments and
agencies. These standards will provide the basis for rationalizing the City's business applications and technology
infrastructure to achieve savings and will enable the City's different information systems to be linked.
RECOMMENDATION 67
The new City should explore opportunities for public-private partnerships in developing an integrated Geographic
Information System to support the delivery of a wide range of City services and to provide public access to high quality
information related to the City and its services.
RECOMMENDATION 68
High priority should be given to rationalizing the information systems for tax billing and property information, integrated
budgeting, financial information, payroll and human resources. An integrated fire services communication system will also
be needed in the short term. A strategy for rationalizing other applications, based on the needs of users and involving user
representatives, should be developed as soon as possible.
RECOMMENDATION 72
The new Council should require the new Toronto Hydro-Electric Commission to develop and implement a strategy to
harmonize rates for hydro-electricity across the new City. The essential elements of the harmonization strategy should
include:
- the plan should be in place by January 1, 1998 for ratification by the new Commission, and harmonization of rates
should commence no later than July 1, 1998;
- harmonization should be undertaken separately for each rate class of customer so as to expedite unification for
residential and small general service (business) customers which together represent over 90 per cent of all customers;
- during the phase-in process for the new rates, operating savings from amalgamation ("amalgamation dividends") should
be applied to each customer class in proportion to the percentage of total revenue represented by that class, so that one
customer class does not subsidize another; and
- "rate capping" should be used to prevent rate increases, if any, from exceeding pre-established limits for individual
customers.
The new Council should request the Province to enact legislation in the spring of 1998 which provides that: the rate
harmonization plan developed jointly by the six current commissions be adopted by the new Commission, at such time as
Council has appointed the new Commission; and that rates developed under the plan for application in 1998 not be subject
to the normal regulatory review and authorization, so long as these new harmonized rates are revenue neutral between
customer classes.
RECOMMENDATION 73
The new Council should establish a policy of collecting charges for the Toronto Hydro-Electric Commission with respect
to the development of new sites or redevelopment of existing sites consistent with the requirements and procedures of the
Development Charges Act.
RECOMMENDATION 75
As a transitional step to amalgamating all municipal water and sewage functions within a City department, the City should
establish an interim service agreement with the Toronto Hydro-Electric Commission to provide water distribution services
in the existing Scarborough Utility Commission's service area.
RECOMMENDATION 76
The new Council should request the Province to enact legislation to transfer the local system of transmission lines and
substations which lie within the new City, along with the associated rights-of-way and any land owned, from Ontario
Hydro to the new Toronto Hydro-Electric Commission for enhanced planning and operating effectiveness.
RECOMMENDATION 77
The new Council in partnership with Ontario Hydro, the Toronto District Heating Corporation and the new Toronto
Hydro-Electric Commission should undertake a study of the opportunity to provide a co-generation facility in the port area,
including the potential of using the R.L. Hearn Generating Station and site.
RECOMMENDATION 86
City Council should request the Province to restore the property tax exemptions for all Toronto public theatres.
RECOMMENDATION 104
Council should retain the services of the Ontario Property Assessment Corporation (OPAC) to enumerate and prepare
special and separate rolls for the purpose of levying charges pursuant to by-laws passed under section 220(1) of the
Municipal Act, as amended.
The separate and special assessment rolls would identify and enumerate each commercial tenant or occupant within the
geographic area of a Business Improvement Area (BIA) and value the space they occupy.
The Province should finance the initial creation of these rolls as a one-time transitional cost. To avoid delay, the City
should pay for the initial rolls, then seek reimbursement from the Province. Annual updates to maintain the currency of the
rolls should be funded by the BIAs themselves from the annual levy.
The new Council should request the province to amend section 220 of the Municipal Act to:
- ensure that the notice of the enactment of by-laws to authorize the creation of a BIA is expanded to include all business
occupants; and
- permit the special charge to be levied against ratable property in the area which would have to be divided as premises of
businesses enumerated on the special assessment roll prepared for levying the rate.
In addition, legislative amendment is required to remove the requirement for Council to appoint a political representative
to BIAs.
RECOMMENDATION 112
A Working Committee should be formed, comprising representatives from the City, each of the amalgamated boards of
education, the universities and the colleges of applied arts and technology, to develop collaborative approaches to issues of
common concern.
Optimizing the use of public facilities should be an objective of all levels of government, including the community use of
school facilities in off-hours.
RECOMMENDATION 113
A new City of Toronto customer service procedure and handbook should be drafted and distributed to all municipal staff
before January 1, 1998 to ensure they have the information they need to respond appropriately to public inquiries to and
about the new City.
RECOMMENDATION 114
Council should establish a transitional grants policy to apply to all municipal grants given by Metro and the six area
municipalities.
Advances should be made in January for 50 per cent of the 1997 grants for ongoing, sustaining or core programs, except
where performance issues have been identified.
If the grant is $2,000 or less, the whole grant should be made in January. In-kind support, such as use of municipal space,
should also continue.
Council's review of 1998 grant applications should use the same eligibility requirements for grants as in 1997. Community
councils should be asked to provide input on needs identification.
During the year, Council should review all the grants eligibility criteria of the former municipalities and establish a grants
policy for the new City, to take effect in 1999.
RECOMMENDATION 117
As soon as possible, community council meeting dates for consideration of development applications should be established
to ensure there is no delay in decision-making.
Development charges should be reviewed and harmonized as soon as possible in 1998.
Consideration should be given to using a development permit process for strategic areas of the city as a means of
streamlining the decision-making process.
The use of site plan control across the city should be reviewed with a view to harmonizing existing practices and limiting
its use to specific geographic areas based on defined criteria. City objectives in using site plan control should be clearly set
out in guidelines.
To reduce the time and cost devoted to very minor administrative matters, the possibility of delegating certain minor
variance decisions to the Chief Building Official, in accordance with criteria set by City Council, should be reviewed.
A case management approach should be implemented for development applications and major building projects. The use
of one-window approaches to the review of routine development applications should be explored.
The City should streamline its building permit services and make them more convenient and accessible for residential and
commercial clients.
By-laws relating to building and development should be harmonized as soon as possible. Sign, swimming pool fence and
construction fence by-laws should be harmonized during 1998. Staff should work towards consolidation of the City's
by-laws, particularly for key development lands such as industrial areas. The Planning Commissioner should report to
Council on a timetable for harmonization.
RECOMMENDATION 118
A Transportation Master Plan should be prepared and implemented, consistent with the Official Plan and in support of the
City's economic, environmental and community accessibility objectives. It should integrate multiple uses of the street
system, including pedestrians, cyclists, transit, motorists, goods movement and utilities.
A review should be undertaken to determine the costs of providing a uniform level of service in sidewalk snow-ploughing.
In the meantime, whatever service has been supplied until now should continue.
A single road and utilities coordinating committee should be established, including representatives from the City and
utility agencies using the road rights-of-way, to explore opportunities for collaboration and service efficiencies.
RECOMMENDATION 119
All water and sewer functions for the new City should be consolidated within the Urban Development Services
departmental cluster. As a transitional step, the City should retain the Toronto Hydro-Electric Commission under a service
agreement to provide water distribution services in the existing Scarborough Public Utility Commission's service area.
The City should collaborate with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and other GTA municipalities to
develop strategies for the management of the watersheds.
A Piped Services Master Plan should be prepared and implemented, consistent with the Official Plan and coordinated with
the watershed strategies.
A strategy should be developed to harmonize water rates across the new City in the first half of 1998. Until the rates are
harmonized, a consistent approach to costs should be applied in determining the water rates for each of the existing
municipal areas.
A city-wide water efficiency program should be developed and implemented as soon as possible. The metering program
that is now in effect should be fast-tracked so that everyone is on a pay-for-use basis.
Strategies to implement water and sewer service levelling should be developed, with priority to those that result in cost
savings or can be implemented with little or no financial impact.
RECOMMENDATION 120
A Waste Management Master Plan should be prepared and implemented to support the City's environmental and financial
objectives.
A strategy should be developed to harmonize services across the whole City, based on a cost-benefit analysis of the
options and including the need to create incentives for waste reduction.
To ensure that the City's waste management services are delivered in the most efficient manner in the coming years, a
formal process of competitive assessment should be undertaken as soon as possible.
RECOMMENDATION 122
In developing eligibility and funding criteria for community grants for 1999, Council should consolidate and harmonize the
community service grants among the seven municipalities into a single system.
The new Council should attempt to maintain the total amount of funding for community grants at no less than the 1997
level.
RECOMMENDATION 123
The City should explore coordinated access for common client groups in community services, including locating program
offices together.
The City should build on the success of existing community-based models, either through partnerships or contractual
arrangements, to provide public information and referral to services using technologically-based systems that improve
access, equity and civic participation. Examples include community information centres and Metro Access to Social
Housing.
RECOMMENDATION 124
Use of public parks should continue to be free and accessible. Basic recreational services should be provided free or at
nominal cost across the City (e.g., swimming, drop-in programs, casual "no permit required" use of outdoor facilities and
skating).
Fees for other programs (beyond basic services) should be harmonized as soon as possible across the City, in consultation
with the public, so that fees represent 50 per cent of the direct cost of delivering the program. At the same time, an access
policy should be developed to ensure that low-income families and individuals are not penalized.
A Parks Master Plan, including priorities for parkland acquisition, should be developed and implemented consistent with
the new City's Official Plan. To support the consistent implementation of the City's parks plan, policies and by-laws
respecting parkland levies and cash-in-lieu of parkland from development applications should be harmonized.
There should be a coordinated approach to the maintenance of all public green spaces in the City.
RECOMMENDATION 125
An operational plan to address variations in public health services across the new City should be ready in January 1998, so
that the new Board of Health can address the policy issues.
The new Board of Health should review and harmonize existing public health by-laws and methods of enforcement.
There should be a strong central office to do public health policy and program development, with decentralized delivery of
services.
To ensure there is no disruption of services, the City should ensure continued funding of the CINOT Dental Treatment
Program and Sexual Health Contracted Services which, until now, have been funded by the Province.
The potential for cost savings and revenue enhancements should be explored, including redesign of the Vaccine
Preventable Disease Program and review of possible fee-for-service arrangements in such areas as annual restaurant
licensing and food handler training.
A single nutrition policy for the City should be developed and partnerships explored with the new school boards to address
nutrition issues in the school setting.
RECOMMENDATION 126
Work should begin on selecting and implementing a fully-integrated library information system.
Libraries should be included in the Access Toronto interactive public information electronic network as focal points for
their communities.
Opportunities for co-locating other municipal services with library services and enhancing off-site services should be
explored.
RECOMMENDATION 127
Emergency services should move towards a fully integrated emergency services communications and dispatch system. It is
within this context that the immediate need for a city-wide radio system for the amalgamated fire services should be
addressed.
A review should be undertaken of fire station service areas to see if response times could be improved by realigning
boundaries, now that there is to be one city-wide fire service.
Opportunities should be explored for greater collaboration among emergency services, including the potential
consolidation of fire and ambulance communications centres and headquarters, and an integrated approach to emergency
vehicle repair and maintenance.
(Part of) RECOMMENDATION 128
The existing diversity of non-development related municipal by-laws should be harmonized over the first term of Council,
with priority given to property standards and noise by-laws.
RECOMMENDATION 129
A uniform animal care and control by-law and a harmonized city-wide fee structure for animal control services should be
prepared and approved early in 1998.
An independent comprehensive review of animal service delivery should be initiated in early 1998, and submitted for
Council consideration by September 1998. In the interim, the existing contract with the Toronto Humane Society for
services within the geographic area of the current City of Toronto should be extended for one year.
RECOMMENDATION 130
The Province should include in its commitment to revenue neutrality all costs associated with the transfer of funding
responsibilities to the new City, including the proposed elimination of the municipal support grant.
RECOMMENDATION 131
Early in 1998, Council should consider the implications of phasing-in the impact of the 1998 reassessment changes. The
anticipated anomalies associated with a long phase-in period should be carefully evaluated.
RECOMMENDATION 132
Council should seek the delegated authority from the Province to set the graduated tax rates for commercial properties in
order to protect particular types of property, such as small business, from the impact of significant tax shifts.
RECOMMENDATION 133
Council should develop criteria for tax deferral or relief from reassessment-related tax increases on residential properties
for the City's most economically vulnerable property taxpayers.
RECOMMENDATION 134
Council should consider decreasing property taxes for new multi-residential developments to encourage more rental
housing development, and seek the permanent inclusion of the newly developed multi-residential properties in that class so
that this tax policy is economically viable.
RECOMMENDATION 135
An area rating scheme based on the former area municipalities is not recommended because it will:
- divide the new City along old political boundaries;
- produce inequities in service and tax levels;
- create inefficiencies and prevent economies of scale in service delivery;
- discourage coordinated delivery of services across the City;
- frustrate assessment reform; and
- compound the complexity of implementing amalgamation.
RECOMMENDATION 136
As early as possible in 1998, the Budget Committee should initiate a Budget process, in consultation with the CAO and
Chief Financial Officer, that enables:
- an opportunity for public consultations and for standing committees to discuss policy implications of financial
decision-making;
- an early decision by Council on key issues to achieve significant savings in 1998; and
- an early decision on capital allocations and projects in order to make the most of our short construction season.
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