2004-06-17_Minutes--Procès-verbal
June 17, 2004
Public Committee of the Whole meeting of Common Council, held at the City Hall in The
City of Saint John, on Thursday, the 17th day of June, 2004, at 5:40 o'clock p.m.
Present:
Mayor McFarlane
Deputy Mayor Hooton and Councillors Chang, Chase, Court,
Farren, Ferguson, McGuire, and Tait
- and -
1. Totten, City Manager; J. Nugent, City Solicitor; A. Beckett,
Commissioner of Finance and Corporate Services; and P.
Woods, Common Clerk and Deputy City Manager.
1. Meeting Called To Order
The Mayor called the Committee of the Whole meeting to order.
The City Solicitor updated Council on the requirements of the Municipalities Act as it
relates to convening Committee of the Whole meetings. He explained that all
Committee of the Whole meetings are convened in public with the public entitled to
attend, unless a matter is being discussed which falls within one or more of the
categories listed in the recent amendments and the Committee wishes to discuss the
matter privately. He added that in the latter case it is necessary for a resolution to be
adopted identifying the category into which the matter falls and exclude the public from
the discussion of that matter.
The Common Clerk commented on the general rule previously followed by Council to
add an item to an agenda of Closed Committee of the Whole as follows:
A request to hear the item in closed session is sent to the Clerk's office to be
placed on the agenda of a regular Council session with the section number of the
Municipalities Act under which it is covered. Council then decides at the regular
session whether to refer the item to closed session or to deal with it at the regular
session in public.
He added that in circumstances where the item is time sensitive, urgent, or a follow-up
matter which has already been discussed in closed session, an exception could be
made to place the item directly on the agenda of the closed session.
On motion of Deputy Mayor Hooton
Seconded by Councillor Ferguson
RESOLVED that the public be excluded from the meeting for the
duration of the Committee's discussion of the following matter: item number 2 on the
Closed Committee of the Whole agenda, Personal Information, which falls within Section
10.2(4)(b) of the Municipalities Act.
Question being taken, the motion was carried.
June 17, 2004
Public Committee of the Whole
2004-72
The Mayor re-convened the Committee of the Whole meeting open to the public at 6:50
p.m., with J. Baird, Commissioner of Planning and Development Services; P. Groody,
Commissioner of Municipal Operations; and G. Yeomans, Comptroller joining the
meeting.
2. Financial Overview
Referring to the Financial Background information previously submitted to the new
Council, and a submitted electronic presentation, Mr. Beckett outlined the items to be
discussed as follows:
2004 Operating and Capital Budgets for the General Operating Fund
2004 Operating and Capital Budgets for the Water & Sewerage Utility
2003 Audited Financial Statements for the General Operating Fund, the
Water and Sewerage Utility and the City's Trust Funds
2002 Audited Financial Statements for a Number of Related Boards,
Commissions and Agencies
Mr. Beckett advised that the principal source of revenue for the City's General Operating
Fund is property taxes, adding that over the last eleven years there has been a small
increase in over-all revenues (slightly over 4%) however there has been a significant
shift in where the monies come from. He noted that property taxes as a percentage of
over-all revenues has grown from 61.8% in 1994 to 74.3% in 2004, and during the same
period, there has been a steady decline in the unconditional grant received from the
Province from almost $27 million to $17,200,000. in 2004.
Referring to his submitted report, Mr. Beckett outlined the City's expenses over the past
10 years and listed the future challenges as the City's Pension Plan which is facing a
funding problem; expenditures which are expected to grow for current service levels,
mainly due to an average 3% wage increase yearly; unexpected events such as severe
winter conditions which require outlays over and above budget; the unconditional grant
being frozen for the next three years; and the declining population in the City.
Details of the above challenges were offered with the aid of an electronic presentation,
with Mr. Beckett summarizing that projections indicate that in order to maintain the
current service levels provided by the City the property tax rate would need to increase
by 6.3 cents in 2005, without considering provision for dealing with increased funding
requirements for the City's pension plan, which would require raising 4.5 million,
translating into a tax increase of approximately 11 cents.
The meeting adjourned at 9:30 o'clock p.m.
Common Clerk