ACCOUNTABILITY PLEASE!

Our response to

http://raisethehammer.org/article/1741/city_public_engagement_initiative_triggers_pr_fiasco

Another $400K, this time invested in consultants, outside our borders, for what appears to be a fairly straight forward information gathering IT project. This is in addition to the salaries paid to the City’s IT department. That should not be taken as a shot at the hardworking, frontline IT professionals employed at the City. It is however a message for the City’s decision making IT Managers. It is my understanding that we invest over $70 million annually towards consultants. The message is therefore directed to Managers of each City department. You should not be permitted to hide behind the failures of consultants that are often hired to avoid accountability in the first place.

In 2010, the Hamilton Civic League conducted a Community Values & Priorities Survey which was volunteer-powered at zero cost to the City. For 2013, we have partnered with McMaster University and will soon begin to design a new survey with a complete implementation plan to ensure each Ward is represented. It will be another feet on the pavement, door to door survey. We are the same group that recently visited over 350 Aerotropolis area homes to survey ALL residents, again at zero cost to the City. Four volunteers spent a week at City Hall reviewing 35,000 pages of tax assessment data to identify all industrial employment lands in an effort to hold local government and paid consultants accountable for related data within their reports. In a matter of minutes, the City’s Finance or IT department could have produced an identical report, saving hundreds of volunteer hours but were unable to do so. We discovered 1000+ acres missing from the City/consultant reports. I put much more faith in a zero cost, grass-roots, volunteer-powered survey and invite everyone to get involved in our project to ensure we get this critical accountability tool right for 2013.

I recall the following recent events/issues that have arisen over a fairly short period of time:

• The City decided not to adopt a bi-weekly garbage collection schedule at a potential savings of $10 million over 7 years. Will anyone be held accountable?
• The City permits heritage buildings to be demolished. Will anyone be held accountable?
• Against the wishes of area residents, the City approved the largest expansion of our urban boundary in history and is defending it at a cost of $300K. Will anyone be held accountable?
• CasiNO! Will anyone be held accountable?
• Waterfront Trust!!! Will anyone be held accountable?
• Skyrocketing employee costs! Council and Managers, this is not a shot at frontline City employees! Will anyone ever be held accountable?
• Unacceptable poverty levels. Will anyone be held accountable?
• A $15,000 traffic-calming, speed bump! Will anyone be held accountable?
• Will the City’s Accountability Committee be held accountable for the lack of progress?

It is fantastic to witness the blog surge in civic engagement when these and other issues arise. I believe our level of civic engagement plays an important role in the state in which we find our community today. Imagine the results that could have been achieved and the money that could have been saved or kept in our community through this one, fairly straight forward IT project had engaged residents learned about the project at the planning stage rather than after its failed implementation. How many more ill-conceived and/or outrageously expensive projects are in the works today that make this $400K mistake appear as just another drop in the bucket? Like all engaged residents, I accept my responsibility to try to improve our community, but accountability belongs with the financially compensated decision makers at City Hall.

Have you had enough? Is it possible that the frustration resulting from this single issue combined with that of so many other issues has generated a heightened clarity of focus and further ignited your commitment to civic engagement? The road to Accountability 2014 requires the immediate and ongoing commitment of all currently engaged residents to continue to expand the dialogue, to encourage the unengaged to get involved and to turn our thoughts, words and emotions into meaningful actions.

It is unfortunate that we won’t all agree on the best path to Accountability 2014, however we can certainly advance widely held values and priorities in pursuit of a healthy, happy, engaged, accountable community. Please take this opportunity to commit to further developing and implementing a plan of action. Join the Hamilton Civic League today. Attend a meeting, get involved in an existing project or propose and advance a new project.

Like every story, there are two sides to every equation. One of the most important equations for the people at City Hall is the financial one relating expenses and revenues. It’s no different for citizens or businesses. If you spend more money than you make, bad things happen.

The staff and Councillors at City Hall have been working hard to find ways to increase revenues. Some want us to sell the naming rights to all kinds of public assets. Others want to sell advertising space along our roads. A new downtown casino, a new football stadium, a greatly expanded employment growth district at the airport could all contribute new revenue. A consultant suggested things like increasing parking fees, increasing recreation fees, selling off a city-owned golf course. It’s even been suggested we raise taxes an additional 1%. Still others judge our problems are the result of the provincial government downloading their responsibilities on to us. They feel lobbying them holds the promise of a huge increase in revenue.

At the Hamilton Civic League, we have created a Finance Committee to review the City’s publicly available financial information. Our purpose is to identify opportunities to balance the financial equation and share the findings with people across the city. Our mission – and our hope – is that by providing insight and understanding into the key issues in our city, more people will become involved – and active – in municipal affairs.

It seems to us the staff and Councillors at City Hall are forgetting about an entire side of the equation – the side of the equation that lists the expenses.  If we are not making as much money, we should not be spending as much money.

Here’s where the elephant comes in.

The elephant at City Hall is the amount of money being spent on salaries, wages and benefits – which includes pensions – for the employees who work for the City.

In 2002, the salaries and wages were $354 million. In 2011, the salary and wages were $487 million. That’s an increase of 37.6% or 4.2% per year.

Salaries and wages also determine benefits costs. In 2002, the benefits costs were $33 million. In 2011, the benefits costs were $137 million. That’s an increase of 310.8% or 34.5% per year.

From 2002 to 2011, inflation increased by 20%. If the City’s salaries and wages had only increased at the 2.2% annual rate like inflation, the City would have spent a total of $462 million less from 2002 to 2011. Likewise, the City would have spent $429 million less on benefits. That’s a combined total of $891 million.

These increases much more than the rate of inflation, would have gone a long way towards renewing the city’s infrastructure and improving social services supports for those most vulnerable and in need.

Recently the city manager sounded the alarm about the deteriorating infrastructure in the city estimated to need $200 million a year. He claimed a problem with the “city’s ability to manage ongoing and growing financial challenges.” He suggested the city was getting shortchanged by both Ottawa and the province.

But the provincial government has a fiscal crisis of its own with a record deficit. The federal government too is struggling to balance its budget and reduce its deficit.

City Council recently voted to pay $3.35 million during the first six months of 2013 to cover the costs of social services, emergency services for those most in need, previously paid by the provincial government. Our City’s Treasury Manager stated: “It’s going to be a huge budget pressure.” Assuming twenty business days per month, City Hall spends that amount in less than two business days on salaries and wages.

Rather than suggesting those most vulnerable in our city are a “huge budget pressure”, the city must start to deal with the elephant in the equation.  

Historically, governments have relied on growth to solve their problems. More people, new development and new businesses have all generated new tax revenues to offset expenses. Those times are over. Since 2002,Hamilton’s population has grown at an average of 1% per year.  

Knowing the problem is halfway to solving it. The Civic League is working hard to understand the City’s financial equation and will work just as hard to propose solutions.

City Hall simply cannot continue to ignore the ballooning employee costs on the expense side of the financial equation.

Please contact us if you would like to join our Finance Committee. 

Jim Sweetman

Chair, Hamilton Civic League Finance Committee