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 "Terms 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 "consent 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 "consent 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.