|
|
CITY OF VANCOUVER
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
STANDING COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ON
CITY SERVICES AND BUDGETS
APRIL 30, 1998 A Regular Meeting of the Council of the City of Vancouver was held on Thursday, April 30, 1998, at 10:55 a.m., in Council Chambers, Third Floor, City Hall, following the Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets meeting, to consider the recommendations of the Committee.
Ken Dobell, City Manager
Tarja Tuominen
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MOVED by Cllr. Puil,
SECONDED by Cllr. Bellamy,
THAT this Council resolve itself into Committee of the Whole, Mayor Owen in the chair.
- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY CITY MANAGER’S ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS
1. 1998 Operating Budget: Final Report File: 1605
April 22, 1998
MOVED by Cllr. Bellamy,
THAT Council approve the final 1998 Operating Budget Revenue and Expenditure estimates as summarized in Appendix 1 of the Administrative Report, dated April 22, 1998, by approving the budget resolution attached as Appendix 2 of the report, and instruct the Director of Finance to submit the 1998 Rating Bylaws to Council on May 14, 1998.
- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
COMMITTEE REPORTS Report of Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
April 30, 1998
Council considered the recommendations of the Committee, as contained in the following clauses of the attached report:
Cl.1: 1997 Financial Statements
Cl.2: 1998 Taxation Options
Cl.3: Compressed Work Week
Cl.4: Vancouver Economic Development Commission
Clauses 1, 2 and 3
MOVED by Cllr. Puil,
THAT the recommendations of the Committee, as contained in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this report, be approved.
- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY Compressed Work Week
(Clause 3)
Consideration of the report is referred to the City Services & Budgets Standing Committee meeting on May 14, 1998.
RISE FROM COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MOVED by Cllr. Puil,
THAT the Committee of the Whole rise and report.
- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY ADOPT REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MOVED by Cllr. Puil,
SECONDED by Cllr. Bellamy,
THAT the report of the Committee of the Whole be adopted.
- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY The Council adjourned at 11:00 a.m.
* * * * * REPORT TO COUNCIL
STANDING COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL
ON CITY SERVICES AND BUDGETS
APRIL 30, 1998
A Regular Meeting of the Standing Committee of Council on City Services and Budgets was held on Thursday, April 30, 1998, at 9:30 a.m., in Council Chambers, Third Floor, City Hall.
Councillor George Puil, Chair
Mayor Philip Owen Councillor Don Bellamy Councillor Jennifer Clarke Councillor Alan Herbert Councillor Daniel Lee Councillor Don Lee Councillor Gordon Price Councillor Sam SullivanKen Dobell, City Manager
Tarja Tuominen
ADOPTION OF MINUTES
The Minutes of the Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets meeting of April 9, 1998 , were adopted.
RECOMMENDATION
1. 1997 Financial Statements File: 1501
The Committee had before it a memorandum, dated April 15, 1998 (on file), from the Director of Finance, submitting the Financial Statements of the City of Vancouver for the year ended December 31, 1997, audited as of April 15, 1998, by KPMG Chartered Accountants, the City’s external auditors.
Hugh Creighton, Director of Finance, introduced Bob Shaw of KPMG Chartered Accountants, and Roberta Hui, Manager of Accounting Services.
Mr. Shaw noted accounting standards are changing for local governments, and the presentation of financial statements will be revised. KPMG received the full cooperation and assistance of the City’s Finance Department in preparing the audit. KPMG is in the process of preparing a letter finalizing the 1997 audit which will be distributed to Council for information within the next few weeks.
The following motion by the Mayor was put and carried. The Committee, therefore,
RECOMMENDED
THAT the City External Auditor’s Report and the Financial Statements of the City of Vancouver for the year ended December 31, 1997, be received for information
- CARRIED UNANAIMOUSLY
2. 1998 Taxation Options File: 1551
The Committee had before it a Policy Report dated April 21, 1998 (on file) in which the Director of Finance presented several taxation options for the 1998 taxation year. The Director recommended full implementation of the solid waste utility in 1998, but provided the option to phase the cost of implementing the solid waste utility by deferring the recycling fee component. The Director also presented for consideration a recommendation to implement a one percent tax burden shift from business to residential class, but did not support it.
cont'd
Clause No. 2 (Cont'd)
The Committee agreed consideration of the taxation options should be done in Council to provide the public the opportunity to listen to the deliberations. Therefore, it was agreed to hear the presentations from staff and the delegations and refer the discussion and decision to the next Council meeting.
Ken Bayne, Comptroller of Budgets and Research, briefly reviewed the report. Mr. Bayne introduced Karen Levitt, Financial Analyst, who with the aid of overhead slides and a handout (on file), provided a presentation on the various options outlined in the report.
The Committee then heard from the following delegations:
·Robert Fairweather, Chair, Vancouver Board of Trade (brief filed)
·Professor Robert Clarke, Vancouver Board of Trade
·Tim Louis
·Shane Simpson
·Andy Malloy, Building Owners and Managers Association
The delegations’ points are summarized as follows:
·The Board of Trade supports full implementation of the solid waste utility and implementation of the 1% shift in taxes from business and other classes to residential;
·For many years business class taxpayers have been paying approximately 60% of the solid waste costs, for which there was no benefit;
·The issues raised by the City Manager regarding the recycling cost to residential properties are irrelevant; the costs were previously paid from a capital reserve fund and have nothing to do with the business classes;
·Light industry and commercial rates should be blended; will be more equitable;
·Currently, the light industry taxation rate in the City of Vancouver is the highest of any municipality;
·Property tax should pay for the cost of the consumption of civic services;
·Implementation of user fees is a regressive process; it will mean an increase in taxes for the lower 50% percentile of residential class;
cont'd
Clause No. 2 (Cont'd)
·Against transfer of the 1% shift from commercial to residential class;
·The solid waste user fees create a large problem for a lot of people; owners of residences of lower value will pay more than owners of higher value; a house worth $350,000 will pay an additional 11.7% in taxes; a house worth $1million will have a 1.7% increase;
·The addition of 2.5% to property taxes would be a fairer way to tax;
·The ratio between business and residential taxes is still 5.1, which is higher than in other cities; over a 5 to 10 year period the ratio should come down to 2.5 to 1;
·High taxes translate to higher costs to consumers.
The following motion by Councillor Clarke was put and carried. The Committee, therefore,
RECOMMENDED
THAT discussion and decision on 1998 Taxation Options be deferred to Council’s meeting on May 12, 1998.
- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
3. Compressed Work Week File: 1302
The Chair advised consideration of the Administrative Report, dated April 23, 1998 (on file) on the Compressed Work Week has been referred to the May 14 City Services and Budgets Standing Committee meeting to allow civic unions time to prepare a response.
4. Vancouver Economic Development Commission File: 3143
The Committee had before it an Administrative Report dated April 28, 1998 (on file) in which the City Manager recommended payment of $15,000 to the Vancouver Economic Development Commission for information services provided to the public for the first quarter of 1998.
cont'd
Clause No. 4 (Cont'd)
The following motion by Councillor Clarke was put and carried. The Committee, therefore,
RECOMMENDED
THAT Council approve payment of $15,000 to the Vancouver Economic Development Commission for services rendered for the first quarter of 1998.
- CARRIED
(Councillor Puil opposed)
The meeting adjourned at 10:55 a.m.
* * * * *
![[City Homepage]](/graphics/footnava.gif)
|
![[Get In Touch]](/graphics/footnavb.gif)
|
|
|
|
(c) 1998 City of Vancouver