January 29, 1999

To:Millennium Task Force

From:Commissioner of Economic Development, Culture and Tourism

Subject:Community Banner Program

Purpose:

To seek authority from the Millennium Task Force to proceed with the Community Banner Program initiative as described herein and to request Council approval to waive any administrative and/or permit fees normally imposed on banner and pennant applications.

The Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services has been consulted on, and concurs with, this report. Additionally, staff from Finance and Economic Development have been a part of the consultation process.

Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

The Community Banner Program is intended to be cost neutral to the City and no source of funding is requested for this Millennium initiative. The Program will be self sufficient through sales of the banners to community groups. Actual production of the banners will not commence until an appropriate number of orders have been confirmed.

Rationale for Waiving of Processing and Permit Fees:

Although this report requests City Council to waive any administration and/or permit fee normally imposed on banner and pennant applications, such waiver would not constitute a loss of revenue, given that this is a new, time-limited initiative which is not expected to encroach on current banner activity.

It is also pointed out that the names and identifying symbols of sponsoring organizations or companies appearing on the banners or pennants are incidental to the City's message on the banner or pennant so that the principal purpose of the sign is the promotion of the City's millennium celebrations. Additionally, the Community Banner Program will be targeting a community, charitable or other public event and not the commercial affairs or products of a sponsor. Under the former Metropolitan Toronto policy, community, charitable or other public events are exempted from paying all processing fees. At the former City of Toronto, however, such fees would apply equally to community, charitable or other public event, except in special circumstances where Council waived such fees. One example of Council waiving permit fees is the 1996 "200 Years Yonge Street Celebrations", citing the City's "direct role in encouraging and supporting the celebrations". Similarly, the Community Banner Program is a City initiative, designed to promote the City and to encourage community participation in Toronto's millennium celebrations. Therefore, Council's intention in waiving these fees would be to achieve a benefit for the municipal corporation and its citizens.

Recommendations:

1. That the Millennium Community Banner Program initiative outlined in this report be endorsed.

2. That any administration and/or permit fees normally applicable for applications to install banners and/or pennants over City streets be waived for the Millennium Community Banner Program.

3. That authority be granted to enter into an agreement, satisfactory to the City Solicitor, with Toronto 2000 for the services outlined in this report.

4. That the appropriate City officials be authorized to take the necessary action to give effect to the foregoing.

Summary:

The proposed Community Banner Program involves the sponsorship and purchase of City of Toronto millennium banners or pennants by Business Improvement Areas, Chambers of Commerce, businesses and other interested parties. The purpose of the Community Banner Program is to, among other things, create excitement in the City, as well as to encourage and support community participation in millennium celebrations across the City throughout the year 2000. The City will be responsible for the design and production of the banners, as well as the installation and deinstallation of the banners. Subject to requests for quotations, plans include outsourcing this work. It is recommended that the City contract the services of Toronto 2000 for the promotion and marketing of the banners and the subsequent delivery (upon deinstallation) of the banners to the purchaser. The proposed fee/price structure will ensure the costs of the Program are recouped.

Discussion:

In its adoption of the September 9, 1998 report from Councillors Korwin-Kuczynski, Jakobek and Ashton (adopted by City Council at its meeting of October 1 and 2, 1998), the Millennium Task Force concurred, inter alia, with the statement that "the City will play a key role in being a central registry and information centre for all of Toronto, as well as ensuring that the millennium message is highly visible over the course of 2000 with the use of street banners". In the appendix to that report, the Department of Works and Emergency Services indicates that it would provide assistance in the processing and approvals for street banners, as one of its departmental contributions to the City's millennium plans.

The Community Banner Program involves the sponsorship and purchase of City of Toronto millennium banners by Business Improvement Areas, Chambers of Commerce, businesses and other interested parties. The primary purpose of the Program is to create excitement in the City and to encourage and support community participation in millennium celebrations across the City. The City will be responsible for the design and production of the banners, as well as the installation and deinstallation of the banners. Staff have been communicating with suppliers and feel confident that the costs of the proposed Banner Program can be recouped.

Toronto 2000 Services:

In its consideration of the aforementioned report (September 9, 1998) from Councillors Korwin-Kuczynski, Jakobek and Ashton, the Millennium Task Force adopted the recommendation that the City work cooperatively with Toronto 2000, a non-profit corporation initiated by the Toronto Board of Trade and mandated to coordinate the involvement of community organizations, by sector, across the City. Integral to the City's relationship with Toronto 2000 would be an arrangement which enables us to utilize the outreach capabilities of this organization.

It is recommended, therefore, that the City enter into an agreement with Toronto 2000 for the purposes of marketing the Banner Program. In addition to obtaining sponsorships for and sales of the banners, Toronto 2000 would deliver the banners (upon deinstallation) to the purchasers, anticipated to total a large number across the community and its 28 wards. Toronto 2000 would receive a fee, based on a percentage commission, for its services. The City would contract with an external supplier for the installation of the banners and, at the conclusion of an approved display period (which would be subject to pole availability), deinstallation of the banners.

Processing of Applications:

A variety of policies and fee schedules for banner and pennant installations currently exists in the former municipalities. Harmonization is expected to be completed in March of this year. It is anticipated that the new City's policy will contain some form of processing and permit fees. Given that the Millennium Community Banner Program is a City initiative to encourage and promote City-wide celebrations throughout the year 2000, it is recommended that these fees be waived.

It is anticipated that the Community Banner Program will be consistent with City guidelines for the installation and design of banners and that the applications will be processed by Works and Emergency Services, with a coordinating role performed by Millennium Office staff. Upon completion of a sale, it will be the responsibility of Toronto 2000 to submit application details to the Millennium Office, together with payment and subsequent invoice for its services.

Costing:

Upon approval of this report, staff will determine design specifications of the banners and invite supplier quotations. Subsequent pricing and cost decisions will be based on the quotations, as well as uptake of the program and associated economies of scale. However, based on preliminary discussions with suppliers, the following is an example of a price schedule that would be feasible (example is based on the quotation in Appendix A):

Sample Pricing Schedule

Unit CostUnit Cost

Based onBased on

Quantity ofQuantity of

3,000 1,500

($)($)

Production*:19.0019.45

Hardware:20.7523.25

Installation:26.9026.90

Contingency: 10.00 10.00

Sub-total:76.6579.60

Marketing Fee/Commission (20.0%): 15.33 15.92

Sub-total:91.9895.52

Applicable Taxes:13.8014.33

Total Cost of Banner: 105.78 109.85

(*Production costs include one-time design fee of $300 per 3,000 banners, or $0.10 per banner. This fee disappears after initial 3,000 banners are produced.)

There could be other pricing scenarios. If, for example, a BIA already owns the necessary hardware and it is permanently affixed to designated poles, then the price per banner is substantially reduced. The above-noted sample pricing scenario includes a surcharge of $10.00 per banner. A surcharge is recommended for contingency purposes to help ensure the Banner Program remains cost neutral to the City.

Dependent upon community reaction to the Banner Program, it may be feasible to expand the Program to include related items such as millennium flags, pennant strings or patio umbrellas. Appendix A contains quotes for such items as well.

Conclusion:

The Community Banner Program is a vehicle through which the City can promote itself throughout the year 2000 at the community level. It is a self-supporting program which is designed to blanket the City with brightly coloured banners, whose purpose is to create excitement in local neighbourhoods and communities and to encourage participation, celebration and involvement. The Program confers the ancillary benefit of supporting the activities of Toronto 2000 by providing it with a fee for services arrangement with the City.

Contact Name:

Irene Bauer

Acting Project Manager

Tel:392-4218

Fax:392-3355

Joe Halstead

Commissioner, Economic Development, Culture and Tourism