2003-09-08_Minutes--Procès-verbal
September 8, 2003
Minutes of the Committee of the Whole Meeting Open to the Public,
Monday, September 8,2003,8:00 o'clock a.m.,
8th Floor Boardroom, City Hall.
present
Mayor McAlary
Deputy Mayor White and Councillors Ball, Chase, Court, Desmond, Fitzgerald
Teed, Trites and Titus.
- and -
Messrs. 1. Totten, City Manager; J. Nugent, City Solicitor; A Beckett,
Commissioner of Finance and Commissioner of Corporate Services;, P. Woods,
Common Clerk and Deputy City Manager, and Ms. E. Gormley, Assistant
Common Clerk.
Other staff members present during the meeting were Messrs. P. Groody,
Commissioner of Municipal Operations; J. Baird, Commissioner of Planning and
Development; W. Edwards, Commissioner of Buildings and Inspection Services;
G. Yeomans, Comptroller; Donna Robichaud, Assistant Comptroller and Cathy
Graham, Assistant Comptroller.
1. MeetinQ Called To Order
The Mayor called the Committee of the Whole meeting to order, welcoming the Hon.
Margaret Ann-Blaney, Minister of Training and Employment Development and Minister
Responsible for the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women; Hon.
Brenda Fowlie, Minister of Environment and Local Government; Milton Sherwood, MLA ,
Grand Bay-Westfield; Trevor Holder, MLA, Saint John Portland; Roly Mcintyre, MLA,
Saint John Champlain and Abel LeBlanc, MLA, Saint John Lancaster, and members of
the public.
2. 2004 OperatinQ BudQet
Consideration was given to a presentation by the City Manager on the 2004 Operating
Budget in which he outlined that over the past several years:
- managing City expenditures has not been an issue
- service reductions are hurting our community
- property owners are paying more of the bill
- the Province is taking more from the community
- the current Provincial/Municipal revenue sharing system is resulting in a
systemic problem that, over time, will lead to the demise of our community
- the citizens of this community need the Province's help
The City Manager elaborated providing figures which illustrate the above, and noted that
the City has reduced the number of staff in the last several years by approximately 130
and that there are presently 120 fewer outside workers; that there are significantly
reduced services to the Community, and that property owners are paying more a greater
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Public Committee of the Whole
September 8, 2003
share of operating costs. He noted that in 1992 the Provincial share of property tax was
$31,250,000. with the unconditional grant being $29,270,000. whereas in 2003 their
property tax share was $35,000,000. with the unconditional grant $19,120,190.; and that
the 2004 tax base increases will be marginal, the unconditional grant "pool" is frozen and
any new formula should not create "winners" and "losers". He asked MLA's to support
the municipal government and to support the principle that provincial property taxes
should be funneled to municipalities to provide services.
3. City of Saint John Pension Plan FundinQ
Consideration was given to a presentation by the Commissioner of Finance and
Commissioner of Corporate Services on the City of Saint John Pension Plan Funding.
His information included the following:
The employee pension plan is subject to requirements of the Provincial Pension
Benefits Act and the Federal Income Tax Act.
The basic roles of the Board of Trustees are safeguarding and investment of
assets and delivery of plan benefits.
There is a Charter of Investment Policies and Goals developed by the Board of
Trustees, a key component of which is an asset-liability study which determines
investment strategy.
Current contribution rates are - City- 7.5% and employees - 8.5%.
Average annual pension is approximately $21,600.
3 key measures derived from the actuarial reviews are: going concern valuation,
solvency valuation and current service cost.
As of December 31, 2002 the key plan measures are:
Going concern valuation: deficit of $46,163,700.
Solvency valuation: deficit of $75,149,800.
Current service cost: 15.72% of payroll.
Since the 2000 valuation there has been 2 years of sustained declines in the
world's stock markets which has had a significant impact on the pension plan.
There are legislative requirements under the Pension Benefits Act:
going-concern deficit must be funded over a period not to exceed 15 yrs.
solvency deficit must be funded over a period not to exceed 5 yrs (with
some flexibility).
City Pension Act requires that current service cost in excess of employee
contributions be fully funded by the City of Saint John.
Mr. Beckett indicated that there are options being considered to respond to the solvency
and going concern shortfalls and asked that MLA's give consideration to this issue.
Minister Blaney commented that as Minister Responsible for the Pension Benefits Act,
she recognizes that the issue is a serious one and that it is a long term one, and that she
has been working with her staff to try to come up with some options.
Councillor Trites made the observation that as the City continues to invest in Economic
Development in the City that generates income and results in more tax dollars for the
Province.
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Public Committee of the Whole
September 8, 2003
Mr. LeBlanc posed a question on the revenue that is derived from non-residential
properties.
Councillor Desmond commented on the need for the Province to begin providing support
for the Municipality.
Mayor McAlary noted that she does not support the concept of an increase to the tax
rate to apply to the pension fund deficit, and would prefer to allow some time to see if the
fund may experience an upturn in the future.
The Mayor closed the meeting by thanking Mr. Totten and Mr. Beckett for their
presentations, the Ministers and MLA's for their attention to the issue, and to staff and
the public.
The meeting adjourned at 9:30 a.m.
Common Clerk