Public Commons

Part of 2012

Hello Glen and Sofia,

I have heard that, as of last week, the Ward 18 park-based recreation programs, those with which CELOS is associated, have spent all their planned budget for 2012 already. I want to understand this better.

The last weekly accounting you sent stops at May 27 (I've attached your PDF here). It gives the total staff spending for the Ward 18 program cluster as $157,312, up to that date, with a planned 2012 staffing budget of $232,701 to the end of the City's fiscal year.

The other document I have is an SAP spreadsheet from S. Graham, sent to me at your request, detailing the spending to the end of "period 7" (the end of July?) http://publiccommons.ca/public/uploads/FOI_-_2012-0679_-_Ward_18_&_Parks_P7_2012_Update.pdf. This spreadsheet gives the Dufferin Grove staffing costs as $135,728 for Dufferin/MacGregor, and then another $38,731 for the skating program at Wallace Emerson. A footnote says that the Wallace listing includes the Campbell skating program too. So that would add up to $174,459, meaning that between May 27 and the end of July only another $17,147 was spent. That sounds unrealistically small. To clarify, it would be very helpful if you could send out the updated version of the actual weekly spending, up to the present. Also please let me know what "period 7" refers to.

It's important to note that neither your May PDF nor the "period 7" SAP spreadsheet include the total cost of staffing the programs. The attached CELOS excel document shows an additional expenditure of $23,019 up to end of May (to match your weekly reporting), directly covered by funds from the food-related and skate-lending donations. Those expenditures have continued, so the real labour cost is higher. Now that CELOS no longer administers donation income, the City is paying the extra contracts directly. The continuation of the outside contract cost is the result of the de-facto PT hiring freeze imposed on these programs from December 2011 on. Many existing part-time City staff for the Ward 18 cluster have reduced hours of availability. Without the extra skilled contribution of the contracts, the programs simply would have collapsed.

It is also unclear from your May 27 document whether the donations-income is deducted from the operating cost of the Ward 18 programs. Between January 1 and Sept. 19 2012, $34,455 in program donations have been transferred to the City. Has this amount been subtracted from the total staffing costs?

Once you release the weekly spending details to the city PT staff who work in these programs, and to me, it will be possible to discuss the program costs constructively -- a good thing, if the programs are to survive.

Jutta