June 29, 1999

To:Administration Committee

From:City Clerk (Scarborough Community Council)

Subject:Relocation of Lottery Licensing Staff (Scarborough) to York Civic Centre

Recommendation:

The Scarborough Community Council reports having approved, under "Any Other Matters" on its Agenda of June 22, 1999, a request by Councillor Balkissoon that the City Clerk report to the Administration Committee as soon as possible respecting the reorganization of the Clerk's Department, specifically the intention to relocate the Scarborough Lottery Licensing function and staff to the York Civic Centre; and that, in the interim, no action be taken on this relocation until this report is provided.

City Clerk (Scarborough Community Council).

Margaret O'Neil

Copy to:Novina Wong, City Clerk

Glenn Vollebregt, Director, Legislative Services

Ref: Item (q), Clause 24, Report No. 8 of the Scarborough Community Council.

July 7, 1999

To:Administration Committee

From:Novina Wong, City Clerk

Subject:Adjustments to Legislative Services Organizational Design

Purpose:

To respond to the request of the Scarborough Community Council to report on proposed changes to the organizational structure of the Legislative Services Unit.

Financial Implications:

None.

Recommendation:

It is recommended that this report be received for information.

Background:

In 1998, the Chief Administrative Officer approved the organizational design for levels 4 and 5 of the City Clerk's Division. Since then the Division has hired the Director and District Managers for the Legislative Services Unit and they have undertaken a review of the Unit's current services, organizational structure and performance. When reviewing the Legislative Services Unit organizational structure the main issues to be resolved were:

1. The need to provide customer service at City Hall and 5 civic centres with a downsized F.T.E. complement of 43. Specifically the issue of providing service at East York and York which each only have complements of 2 F.T.E.'s.
2. The need to attain efficiency in large batch processing functions of birth registrations and the issuance of lottery licences.

Various organizational options were explored to determine the most effective model which would not only accommodate its diverse services, but also improve the delivery of those services within its current staffing complement. For the most part, the management structure will remain unchanged, however, it has become evident that certain changes are required in the reporting structure below management in order to ensure an effective and accountable organizational structure.

A Legislative Services organizational review report was submitted to the Amalgamation Office in the CAO's Office on May 19, 1999 and a meeting was subsequently held on May 20, 1999 to discuss the proposed adjustments. On May 28, 1999 approval was received from the Amalgamation Office to proceed with the adjustments to the Legislative Services organizational structure. At the meeting of the Scarborough Community Council on June 22, 1999 the City Clerk was requested to report to the Administration Committee as soon as possible respecting the reorganization of the Clerk's Department, specifically the intention to relocate the Scarborough Lottery Licensing function and staff to the York Civic Centre and that, in the interim, no action be taken on this relocation until this report is provided.

Comments and/or Discussion:

The Legislative Services Unit has a full-time equivalent complement of 43 which serves Toronto City Hall and the 5 civic centres. The 1999 approved operating expenditure budget is $3.6 million with a revenue budget of $7.5 million; therefore contributing $3.9 million to the Corporation.

The City Clerk's organizational design identified the Legislative Services Unit as the one-stop shopping representative for the Division. It is the public's first point of contact for the Clerk's Division at each of the civic centres providing such services as:

• issuance of marriage licences, burial permits and division registrar statements
• registration of births and deaths
• licensing of charitable and non-profit organizations for gaming events - bingo, raffle, break open tickets
• information, certification and amendment of city's assessment roll
• preparation of residency and pension documents
• providing copies of by-laws and other official city documents
• accepting and distributing F.O.I. requests
• commissioning of city documents
• receiving applications for community grants
• receiving applications for Permanent Register of Electors
• booking of wedding chapel

In order to fulfill this mandate, it is necessary to identify staff who are easily accessible to the public and are able to provide a comprehensive range of services in one contact. By identifying staff specifically for this function, the unit can easily take on new services as required, whether they be Clerk's Division related or any other city related function. It is also necessary to acknowledge that the unit has large batch processing functions which should be dealt with separate and apart from the customer service aspect, and that is the registration of births and issuance of lottery licences.

The unit processes approximately 40,000 birth registrations annually totalling one million dollars in revenue. Although parents have the option to personally deliver the forms to the civic centres, approximately 90%, are sent through the mail. Centralizing the registration process will provide dedicated staff to this function which will improve turnaround time for registrations.

The Legislative Services Unit also licences approximately 600 charities annually netting over 25 million to these charities in bingo gaming related activities. Staff issue over 4,100 licences for various gaming events annually totalling 4.5 million dollars in revenue to the city. The gaming industry has proven to be a fluctuating and volatile industry which requires dedicated staff who are aware of the current issues throughout the city. It is also imperative that the city takes a proactive approach in the area of compliance in order to improve enforcement of the legislation and to avoid potential embarrassment or legal implications to the city.

Centralization of both these functions would not only eliminate current workload demands on the customer service staff, but would ensure consistency and standardization of service delivery across the city, and better utilize human resources. Centralizing the gaming function at the York Civic Centre and birth registration at the East York Civic Centre will alleviate the issue of providing full Legislative Services' functions with only 2 staff.

It is important to note that the public will continue to have access to all services at each of the civic centres as staff will be linked to a central database allowing them to check the status on any application and registration. For example, in Scarborough the public will be able to register the birth of their child and apply for and pick up lottery licences. There will be no impact to the public. Although the bulk of the processing for gaming or birth registration will be handled through the East York or York Civic Centres, procedures will be in place to allow emergency situations to be dealt with directly at the civic centres.

A staffing analysis that shows existing and proposed staffing distribution is attached as Appendix I.

Conclusion:

In order to provide efficient and effective customer service at Toronto City Hall and the 5 Civic Centres it is necessary to reallocate staff and functions; specifically the centralization of lottery licence processing in York and the processing of birth registrations in East York. The reorganization will improve the current level of service and maximize the use of available resources.

Novina Wong,

City Clerk

Contact Name:

Glenn Vollebregt,

Director, Legislative Services

392-4373 (telephone)

392-1867 (facsimile)

Appendix I

Legislative Services Staffing Analysis

* 4.0 F.T.E.'s will be dedicated to processing all birth registrations

** 7.0 F.T.E.'s will be dedicated to processing all lottery licence applications

*** Includes head office functions