Grey County Committee Meeting Transcript — November 26, 2025

00:05:21 Speaker 02: call the meeting to order. Is

00:05:23 Speaker 02: there any declaration of interest related

00:05:25 Speaker 02: to any item on today's agenda?

00:05:28 Speaker 02: Not seeing one. If one should

00:05:29 Speaker 02: arise, of course, you can declare

00:05:30 Speaker 02: it at any time. Items for

00:05:34 Speaker 02: direction or discussion. We first have

00:05:36 Speaker 02: the corporate financial update as of

00:05:38 Speaker 02: September 30th. I believe. Sue is

00:05:44 Speaker 02: Garrett. Garrett's taking that. Okay, so

00:05:48 Speaker 02: welcome, Garrett. The floor is yours,

00:05:50 Speaker 02: sir. Thank you, Chair, and good

00:05:55 Speaker 02: morning. In front of us today,

00:05:57 Speaker 02: we have the corporate financial update

00:06:00 Speaker 02: as of September 30th, 2025. I

00:06:03 Speaker 02: just want to highlight to everyone:

00:06:04 Speaker 02: this report is a point in

00:06:05 Speaker 03: time. The numbers within this report

00:06:08 Speaker 03: agree to the numbers that are

00:06:10 Speaker 03: showing in the year and projection.

00:06:12 Speaker 03: column within the open book, and

00:06:14 Speaker 03: currently the county as a whole

00:06:16 Speaker 03: is projecting a surplus of two

00:06:18 Speaker 03: hundred and fifty-nine thousand five hundred

00:06:19 Speaker 03: dollars. But that projection is based

00:06:22 Speaker 03: off of actuals up to September

00:06:24 Speaker 03: thirtieth, twenty twenty-five. So with the

00:06:26 Speaker 03: last three months of the year,

00:06:27 Speaker 03: these numbers could fluctuate for a

00:06:30 Speaker 03: variety of reasons, which I'll talk

00:06:32 Speaker 03: about. But we will bring back

00:06:34 Speaker 03: a final year-end surplus deficit report

00:06:36 Speaker 03: once the twenty twenty-five books are

00:06:38 Speaker 03: closed off before the twenty twenty-five

00:06:39 Speaker 03: audit. The 2025 audit, with recommendations

00:06:41 Speaker 03: on how the year-end surpluses and

00:06:43 Speaker 03: deficits should be funded. As I

00:06:47 Speaker 03: mentioned, overall the county is looking

00:06:49 Speaker 03: at a surplus currently of 259,500

00:06:53 Speaker 03: over its 78,362,800 budget. Attached to

00:06:58 Speaker 03: the report is a summary Excel

00:07:01 Speaker 03: that provides each department's current surplus

00:07:04 Speaker 03: and year-to-date spend, as well as

00:07:06 Speaker 03: high-level financial statements that summarise

00:07:08 Speaker 03: each department's surplus. or each department's

00:07:15 Speaker 03: current spent. As a reminder, the

00:07:18 Speaker 03: financial statements will show a year-to-date

00:07:21 Speaker 03: budget column. The county spreads its

00:07:23 Speaker 03: revenues and expenditures evenly over a

00:07:26 Speaker 03: 12-month period, but a lot of

00:07:29 Speaker 03: expenses and revenues are not incurred

00:07:30 Speaker 03: evenly over a 12-month period. So

00:07:32 Speaker 03: there could be periodic fluctuations

00:07:36 Speaker 03: between year-to-date actual and year-to-date. budget,

00:07:39 Speaker 03: two items before I get into

00:07:40 Speaker 03: the department-by-department surpluses and

00:07:42 Speaker 03: deficits that I want to highlight

00:07:44 Speaker 03: that impact the majority of the

00:07:46 Speaker 03: county. The first is our staff

00:07:50 Speaker 03: benefit rates. Our benefit rates renew

00:07:52 Speaker 03: every April, and often we go

00:07:56 Speaker 03: out to market to make sure

00:07:57 Speaker 03: that our rates are still competitive.

00:07:59 Speaker 03: We went out to market on

00:08:00 Speaker 03: April first, twenty twenty-five, and these

00:08:02 Speaker 03: so these rates were not known

00:08:04 Speaker 03: at the time of developing the

00:08:05 Speaker 03: twenty twenty-five budget. Developing the 2025

00:08:08 Speaker 03: budget, so based on information from

00:08:10 Speaker 03: our HR department, finance staff, and

00:08:12 Speaker 03: our benefit consultants, we built in

00:08:14 Speaker 03: a estimated increase to our benefit

00:08:16 Speaker 03: rates. The benefit rates actually came

00:08:18 Speaker 03: in lower, which resulted in savings

00:08:20 Speaker 03: across the county for all departments

00:08:24 Speaker 03: with staff. The other item is

00:08:26 Speaker 03: winter. The first half of winter,

00:08:29 Speaker 03: January to to March April, was

00:08:32 Speaker 03: quite severe in 2025. The department

00:08:33 Speaker 03: it'll impact the most is transportation.

00:08:36 Speaker 03: obviously, but it also impacts any

00:08:38 Speaker 03: department that owns property that requires

00:08:39 Speaker 03: snow removal or that has buildings

00:08:41 Speaker 03: that could be damaged by by

00:08:46 Speaker 03: ice or snow. We've projected assuming

00:08:49 Speaker 03: a average second half of winter,

00:08:51 Speaker 03: November December, but if we have

00:08:54 Speaker 03: a favourable, this could reduce the

00:08:56 Speaker 03: the the deficits caused by winter.

00:08:57 Speaker 03: Whereas if we have a few

00:08:58 Speaker 03: big storms, it could make it

00:08:59 Speaker 03: worse. Again, quite a bit of

00:09:00 Speaker 03: unknown in the last three months

00:09:04 Speaker 03: of the year. Okay, with that,

00:09:07 Speaker 03: I will jump into the the

00:09:11 Speaker 03: actual department surpluses. So, the first

00:09:12 Speaker 03: department we'll talk about is administration,

00:09:14 Speaker 03: and currently they are projecting a

00:09:16 Speaker 03: surplus of three hundred and twenty-five

00:09:18 Speaker 03: thousand two hundred dollars. This surplus

00:09:21 Speaker 03: is primarily made up of staffing

00:09:23 Speaker 03: vacancies and changes, as well as

00:09:26 Speaker 03: savings in county benefits. The largest

00:09:28 Speaker 03: departments with savings are the finance

00:09:31 Speaker 03: and CAO department, due to staffing

00:09:32 Speaker 03: vacancies during the. year, as well

00:09:35 Speaker 03: as movements in staff and benefit

00:09:37 Speaker 03: savings. Communications is also projecting a

00:09:39 Speaker 03: surplus of sixty-five thousand four hundred

00:09:41 Speaker 03: dollars due to staffing, as

00:09:42 Speaker 03: well as reduced spending on professional

00:09:45 Speaker 03: fees, advertising, and software. Legal services

00:09:47 Speaker 03: is projecting a surplus of forty-three

00:09:49 Speaker 03: thousand seven hundred dollars due to

00:09:52 Speaker 03: less spending on external legal services.

00:09:54 Speaker 03: General administration is projecting a surplus

00:09:56 Speaker 03: of twenty-four thousand six hundred dollars

00:09:57 Speaker 03: due to lower spending on professional

00:10:00 Speaker 03: and consulting, and the remaining

00:10:03 Speaker 03: three hundred. thirty-five thousand, three hundred

00:10:06 Speaker 03: thirty-three thousand five hundred dollar surplus

00:10:07 Speaker 03: is the result of minor savings

00:10:09 Speaker 03: across various budget lines within the

00:10:12 Speaker 03: clerks, emergency management, IT, and

00:10:14 Speaker 03: HR budgets. Additionally, I'll highlight currently

00:10:17 Speaker 03: the county's investment revenue is projecting

00:10:18 Speaker 03: to be five hundred nine thousand

00:10:20 Speaker 03: dollars higher than budgeted. But as

00:10:23 Speaker 03: per the county's investment policy, any

00:10:25 Speaker 03: investment income in excess of one

00:10:27 Speaker 03: percent of last year's tax

00:10:29 Speaker 03: levy is automatically transferred. into the

00:10:31 Speaker 03: one-time funding reserve, and therefore this

00:10:33 Speaker 03: five hundred nine thousand dollars does

00:10:37 Speaker 03: not generate a surplus. Administration capital

00:10:39 Speaker 03: is projecting a deficit of ten

00:10:40 Speaker 03: thousand six hundred dollars, and this

00:10:42 Speaker 03: deficit is the result of

00:10:45 Speaker 03: a twenty twenty-four firewall replacement project

00:10:47 Speaker 03: not being entirely completed in twenty

00:10:49 Speaker 03: twenty-four. Therefore, costs spilled into twenty

00:10:52 Speaker 03: twenty-five, and we're unbudgeted. Next up

00:10:54 Speaker 03: is climate change, which is currently

00:10:56 Speaker 03: projecting a surplus of sixty-three thousand

00:10:58 Speaker 03: eight hundred dollars. Three thousand eight

00:10:59 Speaker 03: hundred dollars. The surplus is due

00:11:02 Speaker 03: to staffing vacancies, as well as

00:11:05 Speaker 03: being able to utilise some federal

00:11:06 Speaker 03: funding to cover off budgeted positions

00:11:09 Speaker 03: that were intended to be funded

00:11:10 Speaker 03: by levy. And there's additional capital

00:11:12 Speaker 03: savings within climate change of

00:11:15 Speaker 03: fourteen thousand, due to lower than

00:11:17 Speaker 03: expected expenditures within the climate opportunities

00:11:18 Speaker 03: fund. This is a capital budget

00:11:20 Speaker 03: that is intended to ensure the

00:11:23 Speaker 03: county has funding available to pursue

00:11:25 Speaker 03: grant opportunities that require shared funding

00:11:26 Speaker 03: between the county and the funder

00:11:30 Speaker 03: and. we are expected to be

00:11:32 Speaker 03: under budget on this in 2025.

00:11:35 Speaker 03: Council is currently projecting a deficit

00:11:37 Speaker 03: of $17,000. The deficit is caused

00:11:39 Speaker 03: by increased spending for professional

00:11:42 Speaker 03: fees due to an unanticipated closed

00:11:45 Speaker 03: meeting investigation. Additionally, there are overages

00:11:47 Speaker 03: within conferences, travels, and meals. And

00:11:49 Speaker 03: these deficits are offset by savings

00:11:51 Speaker 03: within salaries and benefits due to

00:11:52 Speaker 03: reduced spending on per diems as

00:11:56 Speaker 03: well as alternate rate counselors in

00:11:58 Speaker 03: 2025. 25. The information services budget

00:12:00 Speaker 03: is projecting a deficit of fifty-seven

00:12:02 Speaker 03: thousand one hundred dollars. This budget

00:12:05 Speaker 03: is budgeted to be cost neutral.

00:12:06 Speaker 03: Jody and his team work with

00:12:07 Speaker 03: finance to try to figure out

00:12:09 Speaker 03: what their total IS cost will

00:12:10 Speaker 03: be for for the future year,

00:12:12 Speaker 03: and then we split out those

00:12:14 Speaker 03: costs to the departments based on

00:12:16 Speaker 03: the number of computers and licences

00:12:18 Speaker 03: that they hold within those departments.

00:12:20 Speaker 03: But in 2025, the the renewals

00:12:24 Speaker 03: on those licences came in over

00:12:25 Speaker 03: budget, so there'll be a deficit.

00:12:29 Speaker 03: Weekly indemnity and workers' compensation. As

00:12:30 Speaker 03: a reminder, this is our self-insured

00:12:32 Speaker 03: plan. The premiums are paid by

00:12:33 Speaker 03: departments on their earnings, and there's

00:12:36 Speaker 03: a credit that goes to this

00:12:38 Speaker 03: budget. And then the actual expenditures

00:12:39 Speaker 03: to deliver these programmemes are are

00:12:44 Speaker 03: operated through here. And currently, we

00:12:46 Speaker 03: are projected and we are on

00:12:48 Speaker 03: budget. The assessment budget is the

00:12:50 Speaker 03: amount we pay to MPAK. We

00:12:51 Speaker 03: are projecting a deficit of eighteen

00:12:53 Speaker 03: thousand four hundred dollars. Staff had

00:12:56 Speaker 03: budgeted for a two point five

00:12:58 Speaker 03: percent increase over the 2024 fee.

00:13:00 Speaker 03: It came in actually at three

00:13:02 Speaker 03: point four percent. Court security is

00:13:03 Speaker 03: projecting a deficit of one hundred

00:13:07 Speaker 03: and twenty thousand dollars. This was

00:13:08 Speaker 03: reported to council through CAOR

00:13:10 Speaker 03: CW fifteen twenty five. There's a

00:13:14 Speaker 03: variety of reasons for this deficit,

00:13:15 Speaker 03: including prisoner increased prisoner transports, higher

00:13:17 Speaker 03: import person court attendance. This deficit

00:13:21 Speaker 03: is intended to be funded by

00:13:22 Speaker 03: the overall corporate services surplus. Provincial

00:13:24 Speaker 03: offences is projecting a surplus of

00:13:26 Speaker 03: eighty nine thousand six hundred dollars,

00:13:28 Speaker 03: and this represents Grey County's portion

00:13:32 Speaker 03: of the provincial offences, as this

00:13:33 Speaker 03: is cost shared with Bruce County

00:13:35 Speaker 03: based on population. This budget is

00:13:37 Speaker 03: one that's quite difficult to budget

00:13:39 Speaker 03: for and forecast, based on the

00:13:40 Speaker 03: variability of when charges are laid

00:13:44 Speaker 03: and paid. But staff are estimating

00:13:45 Speaker 03: that there will be a surplus

00:13:47 Speaker 03: in this department. Next up is

00:13:48 Speaker 03: the health unit and funding initiatives.

00:13:50 Speaker 03: This budget is made up. of

00:13:52 Speaker 03: the amount we paid to the

00:13:54 Speaker 03: health unit in one million seven

00:13:56 Speaker 03: hundred eighty-five thousand seven hundred dollars,

00:13:58 Speaker 03: as well as the payment to

00:14:01 Speaker 03: Bright Shores in the amount of

00:14:02 Speaker 03: two hundred thousand dollars for the

00:14:04 Speaker 03: five-year one million dollar pledge, as

00:14:06 Speaker 03: well as a two hundred nine

00:14:08 Speaker 03: thousand dollar transfer to reserve. All

00:14:10 Speaker 03: of which are projected to end

00:14:11 Speaker 03: the year on budget. The property

00:14:13 Speaker 03: budget, which is this building, is

00:14:15 Speaker 03: projected to end the year with

00:14:17 Speaker 03: an operating deficit of fifty-six thousand

00:14:20 Speaker 03: two hundred dollars. This deficit is

00:14:21 Speaker 03: the result. of significant overages in

00:14:23 Speaker 03: repairs and maintenancees in 2025, primarily

00:14:26 Speaker 03: due to the building's heating and

00:14:28 Speaker 03: cooling system as well as the

00:14:30 Speaker 03: elevator. The capital within this building

00:14:32 Speaker 03: is projecting a deficit of one

00:14:34 Speaker 03: hundred ninety-nine thousand five hundred dollars,

00:14:36 Speaker 03: and this deficit is primarily due

00:14:38 Speaker 03: to the unbudgeted roof repairs that

00:14:40 Speaker 03: are required at this building, totaling

00:14:43 Speaker 03: one hundred eighty-eight thousand nine hundred

00:14:44 Speaker 03: dollars. This was reported through CSR

00:14:47 Speaker 03: CW nineteen twenty five, and the

00:14:50 Speaker 03: remaining portion of this deficit is.

00:14:52 Speaker 03: due to carrier control upgrades coming

00:14:54 Speaker 03: in over budget. Taxation and grants.

00:14:55 Speaker 03: This is our supplemental billings as

00:14:58 Speaker 03: well as write-offs. We don't know

00:14:59 Speaker 03: this number until we get our

00:15:00 Speaker 03: final reconciliations from all the lower

00:15:01 Speaker 03: tiers. But at this point, we

00:15:03 Speaker 03: have no information that would suggest

00:15:05 Speaker 03: that we're trending towards a surplus

00:15:06 Speaker 03: or deficit. So we're projecting the

00:15:08 Speaker 03: year on budget. That is the

00:15:11 Speaker 03: end of corporate services. I can

00:15:13 Speaker 03: pause there if there's questions, or

00:15:19 Speaker 04: I can keep on going. Are

00:15:21 Speaker 04: there any questions from committee? to

00:15:24 Speaker 04: this point, Councillor Gregg? One question:

00:15:27 Speaker 04: What is the staffing contingent in

00:15:29 Speaker 05: financial and corporate in the finance

00:15:31 Speaker 05: and corporate department? Because that was

00:15:34 Speaker 05: referenced in terms of some surplus,

00:15:37 Speaker 05: as well as the communications staffing

00:15:41 Speaker 05: complement. I think there was sixty-five

00:15:42 Speaker 05: thousand dollars was surplus in staffing

00:15:48 Speaker 05: and some ancillary savings as well.

00:15:52 Speaker 05: So, what's the staffing? complement in

00:15:55 Speaker 03: those two? I might let Rob

00:15:58 Speaker 03: speak to communications, but for the

00:16:01 Speaker 03: finance department, we're department of twenty-two,

00:16:03 Speaker 03: and we've seen vacancies throughout the

00:16:06 Speaker 03: year due to mat leaves, as

00:16:07 Speaker 03: well as individuals seeking other opportunities

00:16:10 Speaker 03: outside of the county, and then

00:16:14 Speaker 03: the time it takes to to

00:16:16 Speaker 03: fill those positions. The finance sector.

00:16:21 Speaker 03: especially for CPAs, is is quite

00:16:23 Speaker 03: competitive right now. So we struggled

00:16:26 Speaker 03: with that. Yeah, I will say

00:16:27 Speaker 03: though, within the communications, that's sixty

00:16:33 Speaker 03: five thousand. That is also the

00:16:34 Speaker 03: professional fees and and other expenses.

00:16:41 Speaker 03: So that's not entirely salary benefits.

00:16:44 Speaker 03: Rob, do you want to speak

00:16:46 Speaker 06: to communications, please? So the staff

00:16:49 Speaker 06: complement and communications is three, and

00:16:51 Speaker 06: there was some contributing factors of

00:16:55 Speaker 06: staff leave, therefore parental leave as

00:16:59 Speaker 06: well, and then other surplus, as

00:17:05 Speaker 06: Garrett mentioned, is related to professional

00:17:07 Speaker 02: fees and services that were not

00:17:09 Speaker 07: used. Okay. Any other questions, Councillor

00:17:11 Speaker 07: Carlton? Thank you. Just a question

00:17:13 Speaker 07: about the. Bright Shores Health System:

00:17:17 Speaker 07: the two hundred thousand that's over

00:17:24 Speaker 07: a five-year. Whereabouts are we on

00:17:25 Speaker 07: that five-year plan, or is that

00:17:26 Speaker 07: ending this year or next year?

00:17:27 Speaker 03: I can double-check that when I

00:17:29 Speaker 03: get back to my desk and

00:17:30 Speaker 03: confirm, but I believe we're on

00:17:40 Speaker 03: year three of five. Right, is

00:17:44 Speaker 03: twenty twenty-five, so I believe there's

00:17:47 Speaker 03: two years left. Mary Lou just

00:17:48 Speaker 04: confirmed that 2023 was the first

00:17:53 Speaker 04: contribution. Any other questions for

00:17:55 Speaker 04: now? Okay, not seeing any. Carry

00:17:57 Speaker 04: on, Garrett. Please. Next up is

00:17:59 Speaker 03: planning community development, starting with the

00:18:01 Speaker 03: planning department. They are projecting an

00:18:02 Speaker 03: approximate deficit of 121 thousand dollars,

00:18:04 Speaker 03: which is which it will be

00:18:06 Speaker 03: recommended to be funded from the

00:18:09 Speaker 03: one-time funding reserve. The primary reason.

00:18:11 Speaker 03: for this deficit is overages in

00:18:14 Speaker 03: salaries and benefits. Additionally, both local

00:18:16 Speaker 03: and subdivision application fees are trending

00:18:17 Speaker 03: lower than anticipated. Similar to POA,

00:18:23 Speaker 03: these are difficult to to budget

00:18:24 Speaker 03: for and forecast based on the

00:18:26 Speaker 03: variability of of when applications are

00:18:27 Speaker 03: received. Planning's capital budget is projecting

00:18:29 Speaker 03: to end the year on budget.

00:18:32 Speaker 03: Most projects within this budget are

00:18:34 Speaker 03: funded from reserve and therefore do

00:18:36 Speaker 03: not create a surplus. Agriculture is

00:18:38 Speaker 03: projecting a. surplus of eleven thousand

00:18:39 Speaker 03: nine hundred dollars. This is primarily

00:18:44 Speaker 03: due to lower than expected expenses

00:18:47 Speaker 03: for beaver and coyote grants, but

00:18:49 Speaker 03: paid by the county. Forestry and

00:18:50 Speaker 03: trails is projecting a surplus of

00:18:52 Speaker 03: forty seven hundred dollars in twenty

00:18:54 Speaker 03: twenty five. The primary reason for

00:18:56 Speaker 03: that is less spending than expected

00:18:58 Speaker 03: on fencing at last budget and

00:19:00 Speaker 03: finance. I believe it was Councillor

00:19:01 Speaker 03: Mackie asked about the or the

00:19:04 Speaker 03: shared responsibility of fencing along the

00:19:06 Speaker 03: rail trail. This is the budget

00:19:07 Speaker 03: that we have there for. for

00:19:12 Speaker 03: when a neighbour requires fencing repairs,

00:19:13 Speaker 03: and we we don't expect to

00:19:14 Speaker 03: spend that full budget in 2025.

00:19:16 Speaker 03: Capital, as similar to planning, is

00:19:18 Speaker 03: expected to end the year on

00:19:20 Speaker 03: budget. The majority of these projects

00:19:21 Speaker 03: are funded from reserve and therefore

00:19:23 Speaker 03: do not generate a surplus. Economic

00:19:25 Speaker 03: development and tourism is projecting to

00:19:26 Speaker 03: end the year with a deficit

00:19:28 Speaker 03: of thirteen thousand eight hundred dollars.

00:19:31 Speaker 03: This deficit is primarily the result

00:19:33 Speaker 03: of overages in building maintenance costs

00:19:36 Speaker 03: at Sydney campus due to the

00:19:39 Speaker 03: increased cost for snow removal. Additionally,

00:19:41 Speaker 03: we have lower than budgeted tenant

00:19:43 Speaker 03: revenues. The budget for tenant rents

00:19:46 Speaker 03: erroneously included the property taxes that

00:19:48 Speaker 03: we charge back to tenants that

00:19:49 Speaker 03: are commercial and therefore create a

00:19:54 Speaker 03: tax liability. However, this account or

00:19:56 Speaker 03: those fees should go directly against

00:19:58 Speaker 03: the property tax expense that we

00:20:00 Speaker 03: pay on that building. The capital

00:20:02 Speaker 03: budget for ecotourism is projected to

00:20:05 Speaker 03: end the year on budget. this

00:20:07 Speaker 03: includes upgrades to the Sydney campus

00:20:09 Speaker 03: for exterior doors. There is one

00:20:12 Speaker 03: project for HVAC at Sydney campus

00:20:14 Speaker 03: that is being rebudgeted for 2026.

00:20:16 Speaker 03: Again, projects are funded from reserve;

00:20:18 Speaker 03: therefore, do not create surplus. Gray

00:20:20 Speaker 03: Roots is projecting an operating surplus

00:20:21 Speaker 03: of sixty-six thousand seven hundred dollars.

00:20:24 Speaker 03: This surplus is driven primarily by

00:20:26 Speaker 03: staffing vacancies as a result of

00:20:29 Speaker 03: the village lean pilot, as well

00:20:31 Speaker 03: as benefit savings. Additionally, the Community

00:20:33 Speaker 03: Cultural Initiatives Fund will not be

00:20:36 Speaker 03: expended. this year, and has been

00:20:39 Speaker 03: rebudgeted for 2026 to better align

00:20:41 Speaker 03: with the proposed Indigenous Advisory Circle

00:20:47 Speaker 03: project timeline. Additionally, Gray Roots has

00:20:49 Speaker 03: seen higher than average revenues for

00:20:52 Speaker 03: admissions in 2025 due to some

00:20:55 Speaker 03: very popular exhibits. People love dinosaurs.

00:20:57 Speaker 03: Gray Roots Capital is projecting a

00:20:59 Speaker 03: deficit of $16,600. This includes an

00:21:02 Speaker 03: overage for the road signage at

00:21:03 Speaker 03: that. building. However, it is unclear

00:21:06 Speaker 03: whether that project will get completed

00:21:08 Speaker 03: in 2025. At this point, so

00:21:10 Speaker 03: if the project does not get

00:21:11 Speaker 03: completed, we re-budgeted for the project

00:21:12 Speaker 03: in 2026. It will not create

00:21:15 Speaker 03: a 2025 deficit. However, if it

00:21:17 Speaker 03: does get to get completed, which

00:21:23 Speaker 03: at this point I don't expect

00:21:26 Speaker 03: it will, it would create a

00:21:30 Speaker 03: deficit in 2025. That's it for

00:21:33 Speaker 03: PCD. If we want, any questions

00:21:34 Speaker 03: for now. okay. Not seeing any,

00:21:36 Speaker 03: Garrett. Please carry on. Human services.

00:21:38 Speaker 03: We'll start with Ontario Works,

00:21:40 Speaker 03: which is projecting an operating surplus

00:21:42 Speaker 03: of thirty-four thousand two hundred dollars.

00:21:44 Speaker 03: The primary reason for this

00:21:47 Speaker 03: is lower than budgeted expenditures for

00:21:50 Speaker 03: non-shareable costs with the province. These

00:21:51 Speaker 03: costs are related to funerals for

00:21:53 Speaker 03: non-social assistance recipients. Overall, social assistance

00:21:55 Speaker 03: payments are trending under budget, as

00:21:56 Speaker 03: our caseload growth has not been

00:21:57 Speaker 03: as high as we budget. Slow

00:22:00 Speaker 03: growth has not been as high

00:22:02 Speaker 03: as we budgeted. However, these costs

00:22:03 Speaker 03: are funded 100% by the province

00:22:06 Speaker 03: and therefore do not generate a

00:22:09 Speaker 03: surplus for the county. However, within

00:22:10 Speaker 03: the Ontario Works administration budget, which

00:22:12 Speaker 03: is 50/50 funded with the province,

00:22:14 Speaker 03: there are some savings within staffing

00:22:15 Speaker 03: for vacancies as well as benefits.

00:22:16 Speaker 03: Ontario Works capital is projected to

00:22:19 Speaker 03: end the year on budget. These

00:22:21 Speaker 03: relate to the computer replacements for

00:22:23 Speaker 03: those staff, and they're occurring as

00:22:25 Speaker 03: the year goes on, and are

00:22:26 Speaker 03: expected to end the year within

00:22:28 Speaker 03: budget. Early learning and childcare is

00:22:30 Speaker 03: projected. In child care is projecting

00:22:32 Speaker 03: a operating surplus of one hundred

00:22:34 Speaker 03: twenty six thousand five hundred dollars.

00:22:35 Speaker 03: This surplus is the result in

00:22:37 Speaker 03: the changes to the provincial funding

00:22:39 Speaker 03: with the Canada wide early learning

00:22:41 Speaker 03: child care programme, or Cwelk. At

00:22:43 Speaker 03: the time of preparing the twenty

00:22:44 Speaker 03: twenty five budget, we do not

00:22:46 Speaker 03: have our we did not have

00:22:48 Speaker 03: our twenty twenty five transfer payment

00:22:52 Speaker 03: agreement. And when we got it,

00:22:53 Speaker 03: the municipal contribution that's outlined in

00:22:55 Speaker 03: that agreement was lower than what

00:22:56 Speaker 03: was in the twenty twenty four

00:23:00 Speaker 03: agreement, which was used to inform

00:23:02 Speaker 03: the twenty twenty five budget. However,

00:23:04 Speaker 03: staff do expect to spend a

00:23:05 Speaker 03: bit more than what the minimum

00:23:07 Speaker 03: required municipal cost share is in

00:23:08 Speaker 03: order to maintain our current services

00:23:10 Speaker 03: within this programme. There are additional

00:23:12 Speaker 03: programmemes that have quite specific requirements

00:23:17 Speaker 03: that staff don't expect to be

00:23:20 Speaker 03: able to spend within the year,

00:23:22 Speaker 03: and these funds will then be

00:23:25 Speaker 03: returned to the province. I believe

00:23:27 Speaker 03: Terre Cochral talked talked about this

00:23:29 Speaker 03: when when we got the SeaWorld

00:23:31 Speaker 03: funding agreement. Early learning and child

00:23:33 Speaker 03: care. capital is the 1.95 million

00:23:36 Speaker 03: dollars for the Hanover Early On

00:23:37 Speaker 03: build. This project, we've purchased the

00:23:39 Speaker 03: land and are currently designing and

00:23:41 Speaker 03: expect to award a tender in

00:23:42 Speaker 03: late 2025. But the construction will

00:23:49 Speaker 03: happen in 2026, and therefore has

00:23:51 Speaker 03: been rebudgeted for next year. These

00:23:53 Speaker 03: costs are all funded from the

00:23:55 Speaker 03: eventual sale of the old Early

00:23:57 Speaker 03: On Hanover building, as well as

00:23:59 Speaker 03: reserves, and therefore do not create

00:24:01 Speaker 03: surplus. Housing is projecting an operating

00:24:03 Speaker 03: surplus of three hundred forty-eight thousand

00:24:06 Speaker 03: seven hundred dollars. Housing has seen

00:24:08 Speaker 03: significant savings within salaries and benefits

00:24:09 Speaker 03: due to temporary vacancies and benefit

00:24:13 Speaker 03: savings. These savings are offset by

00:24:15 Speaker 03: increased contracted services. As when we

00:24:16 Speaker 03: have custodial vacancies, we bring in

00:24:18 Speaker 03: third-party custodians to maintain the

00:24:22 Speaker 03: building. Tenant revenues are also projecting

00:24:24 Speaker 03: a surplus due to changes in

00:24:26 Speaker 03: tenant rents and decreased vacancies in

00:24:27 Speaker 03: 2025. Additionally, there are savings. in

00:24:29 Speaker 03: property taxes due to lower than

00:24:31 Speaker 03: budgeted tax increases on our on

00:24:33 Speaker 03: our buildings. The housing department's insurance

00:24:35 Speaker 03: premium also increased less than budgeted,

00:24:38 Speaker 03: creating a surplus, and the non

00:24:40 Speaker 03: for profit housing budget is projecting

00:24:42 Speaker 03: a surplus due to agreements and

00:24:43 Speaker 03: mortgages ending with our partners, as

00:24:45 Speaker 03: well as annual funding reconciliations that

00:24:47 Speaker 03: resulted in subsidies being repaid by

00:24:49 Speaker 03: the providers. There is a significant

00:24:49 Speaker 03: deficit within housing for snow removal

00:24:53 Speaker 03: at our buildings. However, the final

00:24:55 Speaker 03: figure will depend on the

00:24:57 Speaker 03: second. half of winter, and throughout

00:24:58 Speaker 03: 2025, housing staff have worked hard

00:25:01 Speaker 03: to try to find any operational

00:25:02 Speaker 03: savings that they can to try

00:25:06 Speaker 03: to mitigate this deficit. Overall, housing's

00:25:08 Speaker 03: capital budget is projecting a surplus

00:25:10 Speaker 03: of thirty-seven thousand three hundred dollars.

00:25:12 Speaker 03: Several projects have been awarded under

00:25:16 Speaker 03: budget that are offsetting slight overages

00:25:17 Speaker 03: in projects over budget, but the

00:25:19 Speaker 03: net surplus is thirty-seven thousand. The

00:25:21 Speaker 03: 2025 budget continues to use the

00:25:24 Speaker 03: CMHC funding, which provides thirty percent

00:25:25 Speaker 03: funding for all capital expended. Funding

00:25:27 Speaker 03: for all capital expenditures, and that

00:25:30 Speaker 03: programme ends in 2026. Housing did

00:25:33 Speaker 03: not expect to complete a significant

00:25:37 Speaker 03: number of their budgeted projects in

00:25:38 Speaker 03: 2025, and therefore rebudgeted these projects

00:25:40 Speaker 03: into 2026. These delays are for

00:25:43 Speaker 03: a variety of reasons, including supply

00:25:44 Speaker 03: chain delays with the equipment and

00:25:46 Speaker 03: materials, contractor delays, and housing staff

00:25:48 Speaker 03: resources being reallocated to major capital

00:25:49 Speaker 03: projects within the county. Long-term care

00:25:51 Speaker 03: is projecting an overall deficit of

00:25:53 Speaker 03: 118,900. Of one hundred eighteen thousand

00:25:55 Speaker 03: nine hundred dollars overall across the

00:25:57 Speaker 03: homes, this deficit is the result

00:25:58 Speaker 03: of salaries and benefits being over

00:26:00 Speaker 03: budget due to collective agreements coming

00:26:02 Speaker 03: in higher than what was allocated

00:26:04 Speaker 03: within the budget. However, staff does

00:26:07 Speaker 03: monitor all programme costs and eligible

00:26:09 Speaker 03: expenditures throughout the year. As if

00:26:10 Speaker 03: any funding is unspent, it gets

00:26:11 Speaker 03: returned to the province. And if

00:26:12 Speaker 03: they are able to reallocate any

00:26:15 Speaker 03: expenditures into eligible funding guidelines to

00:26:17 Speaker 03: reduce this deficit, they'll continue to

00:26:18 Speaker 03: work to do that. The long-term

00:26:20 Speaker 03: care administration budget. This budget. gets

00:26:22 Speaker 03: allocated out on a per bed

00:26:24 Speaker 03: basis to the homes, and therefore

00:26:27 Speaker 03: it does not create a surplus

00:26:29 Speaker 03: or deficit. Gray Gables is projecting

00:26:30 Speaker 03: a deficit of one hundred and

00:26:32 Speaker 03: forty thousand eight hundred dollars. This

00:26:34 Speaker 03: is primarily due to increased

00:26:36 Speaker 03: salary and benefit costs because of

00:26:38 Speaker 03: their collective bargaining exceeding the budgeted

00:26:40 Speaker 03: rates due to the harmonization of

00:26:42 Speaker 03: collective agreements between Lee Manor and

00:26:45 Speaker 03: Gray Gables. These changes have been

00:26:47 Speaker 03: accounted for in the twenty-six budget.

00:26:49 Speaker 03: Gray Gables is also experiencing overages

00:26:50 Speaker 03: due to outbreaks and additional when

00:26:52 Speaker 03: additional staffing is required. to adhere

00:26:52 Speaker 03: to proper infection prevention practices to

00:26:54 Speaker 03: limit the spread and reduction of

00:26:56 Speaker 03: time in outbreak, the behavioural transitional

00:26:57 Speaker 03: support unit continues to be under

00:27:00 Speaker 03: budget as there as limitations exist

00:27:01 Speaker 03: in order to fully staff the

00:27:02 Speaker 03: programme. But any surplus within this

00:27:04 Speaker 03: programme has to be returned to

00:27:06 Speaker 03: the province, and therefore does not

00:27:08 Speaker 03: generate a surplus. Grey Gables Capital

00:27:10 Speaker 03: is projecting to end the year

00:27:12 Speaker 03: on budget. Lee Manor is projecting

00:27:15 Speaker 03: to end the year with a

00:27:16 Speaker 03: deficit of one hundred and forty-two

00:27:19 Speaker 03: thousand seven hundred dollars. Same issues

00:27:20 Speaker 03: with Grey Gables on on the

00:27:23 Speaker 03: With Gray Gables on on the

00:27:25 Speaker 03: salaries and benefits, but additionally they've

00:27:27 Speaker 03: had to rely on additional agency

00:27:29 Speaker 03: staffing to cover vacancies, resulting in

00:27:31 Speaker 03: higher contracted services costs. Lee Manners

00:27:33 Speaker 03: Capital is also projecting to end

00:27:35 Speaker 03: year on budget. Rockwood Terrace is

00:27:39 Speaker 03: projecting an operating surplus of one

00:27:40 Speaker 03: hundred and sixty-four thousand six hundred

00:27:42 Speaker 03: dollars. This is primarily due to

00:27:44 Speaker 03: the shift due to shift vacancies

00:27:45 Speaker 03: being seen throughout the year. The

00:27:48 Speaker 03: impacts of the collective agreement settling

00:27:50 Speaker 03: were less than at the other

00:27:51 Speaker 03: homes, as the the allowance.

00:27:53 Speaker 03: in the budget was sufficient

00:28:01 Speaker 03: for these. Additionally, provincial high needs

00:28:02 Speaker 03: claims are trending higher than budgeted.

00:28:03 Speaker 03: This indicates that the home has

00:28:05 Speaker 03: more resource heavy residents, and claims

00:28:07 Speaker 03: are being submitted to fund the

00:28:07 Speaker 03: proper care. Rockwood Terrace is also

00:28:11 Speaker 03: seeing additional resident revenue as more

00:28:15 Speaker 03: residents are paying the current ministry

00:28:17 Speaker 03: rates for preferred accommodation, which increases

00:28:20 Speaker 03: every July. Rockwood Terrace is also

00:28:22 Speaker 03: projecting to end year on. budget

00:28:25 Speaker 03: for capital. Again, the majority of

00:28:25 Speaker 03: these projects are funded from cap

00:28:28 Speaker 03: from reserve and therefore do not

00:28:31 Speaker 03: generate a surplus. The long-term care

00:28:33 Speaker 03: redevelopment budget includes 51 million 222,800

00:28:37 Speaker 03: dollars worth of expenditures. We do

00:28:38 Speaker 03: not expect to spend that full

00:28:42 Speaker 03: budget, as construction did not start

00:28:44 Speaker 03: as as early as expected, and

00:28:45 Speaker 03: the progress draws have not been

00:28:47 Speaker 03: as much as budgeted. However, these

00:28:49 Speaker 03: are funded entirely from reserve, provincial

00:28:50 Speaker 03: grant, and external. financing, and therefore,

00:28:53 Speaker 03: do not generate a surplus in

00:28:54 Speaker 03: the current year. And the remaining

00:28:57 Speaker 03: budget has been been rolled forward

00:28:58 Speaker 03: into twenty twenty six. Paramedic services

00:29:00 Speaker 03: is projecting an overall surplus of

00:29:02 Speaker 03: two hundred and forty one thousand

00:29:03 Speaker 03: three hundred dollars. The primary reason

00:29:06 Speaker 03: for the surplus is a increase

00:29:09 Speaker 03: in the grant to the community

00:29:10 Speaker 03: paramedicine for long term care. Staff

00:29:13 Speaker 03: had budgeted an increase based on

00:29:14 Speaker 03: expected, but the actual increase received

00:29:18 Speaker 03: from the province was quite a

00:29:20 Speaker 03: bit higher. This resulted in the

00:29:21 Speaker 03: one hundred seventy-two thousand four hundred

00:29:23 Speaker 03: dollars that was raised for levy

00:29:25 Speaker 03: to operate this programme not being

00:29:26 Speaker 03: needed in twenty twenty-five. Additionally, this

00:29:28 Speaker 03: budget has seen savings due to

00:29:29 Speaker 03: group benefit savings, as well as

00:29:32 Speaker 03: lower than expected enrolment and omers

00:29:34 Speaker 03: from our part-time staff. And staff

00:29:36 Speaker 03: are also seeing a trend in

00:29:37 Speaker 03: reduced lost time within this budget,

00:29:40 Speaker 03: which results in in reduced spending

00:29:42 Speaker 03: on on salaries and benefits as

00:29:43 Speaker 03: well. However, this this number can

00:29:45 Speaker 03: vary greatly as the year goes

00:29:48 Speaker 03: along. and in the last three

00:29:50 Speaker 03: months of the year, these savings

00:29:51 Speaker 03: though are offset by overages within

00:29:54 Speaker 03: medical supplies, medications, and patient care

00:29:56 Speaker 03: equipment. As our call volumes continue

00:29:58 Speaker 03: to rise, this results in increased

00:30:01 Speaker 03: consumption of these supplies. But the

00:30:04 Speaker 03: cost of these supplies are also

00:30:06 Speaker 03: increasing at a rate much higher

00:30:08 Speaker 03: than standard inflation. There are additional

00:30:09 Speaker 03: overages in computer support and software

00:30:11 Speaker 03: due to the delays in transitioning

00:30:14 Speaker 03: to a department software and to

00:30:17 Speaker 03: a new department software, and some

00:30:18 Speaker 03: unforeseen costs. within the migration to

00:30:22 Speaker 03: the new system. Paramedics' capital budget

00:30:25 Speaker 03: is projecting a deficit of ninety-three

00:30:26 Speaker 03: thousand nine hundred dollars. This deficit

00:30:28 Speaker 03: is a result of two duty

00:30:29 Speaker 03: supervisor trucks that were budgeted in

00:30:32 Speaker 03: twenty twenty-four, but the conversion did

00:30:35 Speaker 03: not happen until twenty twenty-five. These

00:30:37 Speaker 03: we purchase just standard trucks from

00:30:39 Speaker 03: from dealers, and then they get

00:30:46 Speaker 03: sent away to be converted into

00:30:48 Speaker 03: into emergency supervisor vehicles, and the

00:30:50 Speaker 03: conversion. took longer than expected, and

00:30:52 Speaker 03: we received them early 2025, and

00:30:54 Speaker 03: we did not re-budget for them,

00:30:56 Speaker 03: so it creates a deficit. This

00:30:58 Speaker 03: budget continues to see supply chain

00:30:59 Speaker 03: issues. Currently, the county has eight

00:31:04 Speaker 03: ambulances on order, with only one

00:31:05 Speaker 03: expected to come in 2025. Currently,

00:31:10 Speaker 03: this budget also includes the full

00:31:17 Speaker 03: budget for Feversham, which will not

00:31:19 Speaker 03: be completed until 2026. So these

00:31:22 Speaker 03: costs will go forward into the

00:31:24 Speaker 03: 2026. Spending will be brought into

00:31:26 Speaker 03: the 2026 budget. Again, they'll funded

00:31:28 Speaker 03: from reserve or debenture, and therefore

00:31:30 Speaker 03: do not create a surplus in

00:31:32 Speaker 03: the current year. That is human

00:31:35 Speaker 03: services. Okay. Thank you, Barrett. Are

00:31:37 Speaker 03: there any questions so far? Okay.

00:31:40 Speaker 03: Not seeing any. Carry on, Barrett.

00:31:42 Speaker 03: Please. Lastly, is transportation services, which

00:31:45 Speaker 03: is projecting a net operating capital

00:31:46 Speaker 03: deficit of. two hundred sixty-one thousand

00:31:47 Speaker 03: four hundred dollars. This is made

00:31:50 Speaker 03: up of an operating deficit of

00:31:52 Speaker 03: ninety-nine thousand eight hundred dollars and

00:31:53 Speaker 03: a capital surplus of seven hundred

00:31:56 Speaker 03: thirty-eight thousand four hundred dollars. A

00:31:58 Speaker 03: severe winter in the beginning of

00:31:59 Speaker 03: twenty twenty-five significantly impacts this budget.

00:32:01 Speaker 03: The winter control budget can fluctuate

00:32:03 Speaker 03: greatly year to year, depending on

00:32:05 Speaker 03: on winter, not just the amount

00:32:07 Speaker 03: of snow we get, but when

00:32:09 Speaker 03: we get the snow. Back-to-back snowfalls

00:32:12 Speaker 03: can create significant pressure on this

00:32:14 Speaker 03: budget. Examples of things that are

00:32:15 Speaker 03: variable within this budget are increased

00:32:19 Speaker 03: staffing costs for our plow operators

00:32:22 Speaker 03: due to their overtime to maintain

00:32:24 Speaker 03: the county roads, as well as

00:32:27 Speaker 03: overtime for our mechanics that required

00:32:28 Speaker 03: to maintain our fleet when there's

00:32:30 Speaker 03: additional breakages due to increased kilometres

00:32:31 Speaker 03: being put on the vehicles. Overages

00:32:32 Speaker 03: are also seen for materials such

00:32:33 Speaker 03: as salt, sand, fuel, and deicer,

00:32:36 Speaker 03: as well as vehicle parts due

00:32:38 Speaker 03: to increased consumption during strong winters.

00:32:39 Speaker 03: And there's additional overages in contracted

00:32:43 Speaker 03: services as external parties are brought

00:32:44 Speaker 03: in to remove snow when needed.

00:32:46 Speaker 03: The county does have a dedicated

00:32:48 Speaker 03: winter reserve with a current balance

00:32:50 Speaker 03: of five hundred and five thousand

00:32:51 Speaker 03: dollars that is meant to mitigate

00:32:53 Speaker 03: the impact on the winter maintenance

00:32:54 Speaker 03: and cost fluctuations. Staff have projected

00:32:57 Speaker 03: for an average second half of

00:32:59 Speaker 03: winter, but the actual timeline and

00:33:01 Speaker 03: severity will impact this projection greatly.

00:33:02 Speaker 03: There are additional overages in

00:33:04 Speaker 03: the facility's operating budget due to

00:33:06 Speaker 03: damage to depots and storage buildings

00:33:08 Speaker 03: during the winter. Overages during the

00:33:10 Speaker 03: winter. Overages in vehicle maintenance are

00:33:12 Speaker 03: seen as tandems are being kept

00:33:14 Speaker 03: beyond their recommended useful life due

00:33:18 Speaker 03: to due to delays in receiving

00:33:20 Speaker 03: the new units. There are additional

00:33:22 Speaker 03: overages for, or sorry, there addition

00:33:24 Speaker 03: these overages are offset by savings

00:33:26 Speaker 03: in salary and benefits due to

00:33:28 Speaker 03: temporary staffing vacancies and benefit rates.

00:33:30 Speaker 03: Additionally, there are savings for increased

00:33:32 Speaker 03: permit revenue based on actuals to

00:33:34 Speaker 03: date, as well as reduced professional

00:33:37 Speaker 03: fees within this budget as more

00:33:39 Speaker 03: engineering work and work is being

00:33:41 Speaker 03: done by internal staff. The capital

00:33:43 Speaker 03: section of transportation is projecting an

00:33:45 Speaker 03: overall surplus of seven hundred thirty-eight

00:33:49 Speaker 03: thousand four hundred dollars. The major

00:33:51 Speaker 03: road and bridge construction department is

00:33:52 Speaker 03: projecting a surplus of one million

00:33:54 Speaker 03: nine hundred one thousand four hundred

00:33:59 Speaker 03: dollars. Tendering early in 2024 has

00:34:03 Speaker 03: resulted in competitive bids and cost

00:34:05 Speaker 03: savings across various projects. These projections

00:34:07 Speaker 03: could change when final invoices come

00:34:09 Speaker 03: in, based on how much of

00:34:10 Speaker 03: our contingency allowances that are used.

00:34:13 Speaker 03: But currently, we're projecting a surplus.

00:34:16 Speaker 03: a quite large surplus. All projects

00:34:17 Speaker 03: are expected to be completed in

00:34:19 Speaker 03: 2025, with the exception of the

00:34:21 Speaker 03: Gray Road 19 and 21 intersection

00:34:23 Speaker 03: upgrades, Structure 96164 Glenell Road 23,

00:34:26 Speaker 03: and Structure 90363 Euphrasia St. Vincent

00:34:31 Speaker 03: Town Line, which have been re-budgeted.

00:34:33 Speaker 03: There's all this surplus has also

00:34:36 Speaker 03: been reduced by the unbudgeted work

00:34:38 Speaker 03: that was approved for the advancement

00:34:40 Speaker 03: of overlay work on Gray Road

00:34:42 Speaker 03: 9. The facilities, domes, and depots

00:34:44 Speaker 03: is projecting a deficit of one

00:34:46 Speaker 03: million five hundred twenty-eight thousand seven

00:34:47 Speaker 03: hundred dollars, and this is due

00:34:49 Speaker 03: to the unbudgeted demolition and reconstruction

00:34:53 Speaker 03: of the Chatsworth Sand Storage Building

00:34:54 Speaker 03: that failed in early twenty twenty-five.

00:34:58 Speaker 03: This project was originally planned to

00:35:00 Speaker 03: be done in twenty twenty-six. Staff

00:35:02 Speaker 03: have deferred a portion of the

00:35:05 Speaker 03: electric vehicle charger project to twenty

00:35:07 Speaker 03: twenty-six due to uncertainty. when the

00:35:09 Speaker 03: project will be completed, additionally, the

00:35:12 Speaker 03: majority of the patrol D depot

00:35:15 Speaker 03: that was budgeted in 2025 has

00:35:17 Speaker 03: been deferred to 2026 when the

00:35:19 Speaker 03: expected construction will occur. Machinery and

00:35:20 Speaker 03: equipment capital budget is projecting a

00:35:22 Speaker 03: surplus of 365,700. This budget is

00:35:24 Speaker 03: typically funded by the proceeds from

00:35:33 Speaker 03: disposal of old units and then

00:35:35 Speaker 03: transfers from reserve. However, in 2025,

00:35:38 Speaker 03: we have the unbudgeted sale of

00:35:39 Speaker 03: a. Let's get this one mixed

00:35:41 Speaker 03: up. Of a gradall that was

00:35:47 Speaker 03: meant to fund the purchase of

00:35:51 Speaker 03: a rubber tire excavator in 2024.

00:35:52 Speaker 03: We got the excavator in 2024,

00:35:53 Speaker 03: but did not sell the gradall

00:35:55 Speaker 03: till 2025. So it created a

00:35:57 Speaker 03: deficit in 24 and now a

00:35:59 Speaker 03: surplus in 25. Similar to paramedics,

00:36:00 Speaker 03: as mentioned earlier, there are currently

00:36:03 Speaker 03: five budgeted tandems on order, and

00:36:04 Speaker 03: we're unsure what. On order, and

00:36:05 Speaker 03: we're unsure whether we're going to

00:36:08 Speaker 03: receive any in 2025. Therefore, they've

00:36:10 Speaker 03: all been re-budgeted for 2026. The

00:36:13 Speaker 03: electric half tons within the budget

00:36:15 Speaker 03: have not been ordered as of

00:36:19 Speaker 03: the time of this report, as

00:36:20 Speaker 03: staff were waiting for the electric

00:36:22 Speaker 04: vehicle chargers to be installed before

00:36:29 Speaker 04: before completing that order. And to

00:36:31 Speaker 04: be safe, staff have re-budgeted for

00:36:35 Speaker 04: those two half tons in 2026.

00:36:40 Speaker 04: That's it for the report. And

00:36:41 Speaker 04: again, I just want to remind

00:36:44 Speaker 04: that this is a point in

00:36:45 Speaker 04: time projection. This report, we will

00:36:47 Speaker 04: bring a final, a final surplus

00:36:51 Speaker 04: deficit report once the the books

00:36:53 Speaker 04: are closed off. And yeah, I'm

00:36:56 Speaker 04: happy to answer any questions. Thank

00:37:03 Speaker 08: you, Garrett, for that very thorough

00:37:04 Speaker 08: report. Are there any questions from

00:37:06 Speaker 08: committee? Not seeing any questions. Would

00:37:07 Speaker 08: someone care to move that we

00:37:08 Speaker 08: receive the report, Councillor Nielsen, and?

00:37:11 Speaker 03: Warden Matrasovs. Any further discussion? All

00:37:14 Speaker 03: those in favour? I just carried.

00:37:15 Speaker 03: Thank you, Garrett. I almost think

00:37:17 Speaker 03: you got off too easy there,

00:37:20 Speaker 03: but we're not done today yet.

00:37:25 Speaker 03: All right. Garrett's going to give

00:37:28 Speaker 03: us an overview of the open

00:37:29 Speaker 03: book tutorial. So, Floor Short, sir.

00:37:32 Speaker 03: Thank you. And again, we we

00:37:34 Speaker 03: gave a brief tutorial. at the

00:37:36 Speaker 03: last budget finance, but we thought

00:37:37 Speaker 03: it'd be prudent to to show

00:37:38 Speaker 03: you again and kind of explain

00:37:40 Speaker 03: the layout of the 26 draft

00:37:41 Speaker 03: budget open book document. It's meant

00:37:42 Speaker 03: to look and flow very

00:37:44 Speaker 03: similar to the previous budget package

00:37:46 Speaker 03: that's been used. At the front,

00:37:49 Speaker 03: we have a summary of department

00:37:51 Speaker 03: wide information about the county. This

00:37:53 Speaker 03: year, we've added in the staffing

00:37:54 Speaker 03: requests that were presented at the

00:37:56 Speaker 03: previous budget finance. Committee meeting, as

00:37:59 Speaker 03: well as level of service change

00:38:02 Speaker 03: requests, that to try to highlight

00:38:03 Speaker 03: the major things that are changing

00:38:05 Speaker 03: within this year and next year's

00:38:10 Speaker 03: budget. But once we get through

00:38:12 Speaker 03: that front, if we go down

00:38:13 Speaker 03: to transportation services, Britt, because they're

00:38:15 Speaker 03: going first, it's meant to look

00:38:17 Speaker 03: very similar to to last year's

00:38:24 Speaker 03: budget, where we would have a

00:38:25 Speaker 03: narrative at the top for each

00:38:26 Speaker 03: department, and then it'd be followed

00:38:29 Speaker 03: by a summary of their financial

00:38:31 Speaker 03: information, and then the actual financial

00:38:32 Speaker 03: statements for those budgets. The one

00:38:34 Speaker 03: difference is previously, because it was

00:38:36 Speaker 03: all done in Word, is we

00:38:38 Speaker 03: had a one large narrative section

00:38:39 Speaker 03: and then all of the financials

00:38:40 Speaker 03: thereafter. Where we've tried to embed

00:38:41 Speaker 03: the narrative with the appropriate financials.

00:38:44 Speaker 03: So, for example, if brick goes

00:38:46 Speaker 03: to machinery and equipment, you'll get

00:38:48 Speaker 03: the write up just for machinery

00:38:49 Speaker 03: and equipment, and then it will

00:38:55 Speaker 03: be followed by the the financials

00:38:58 Speaker 03: for that department alone. the other

00:38:59 Speaker 02: enhancement that you'll see this year,

00:39:04 Speaker 02: that was not in last year's

00:39:06 Speaker 02: budget, is you'll have the ten-year

00:39:10 Speaker 02: capital for those departments right, right

00:39:12 Speaker 09: with the financials as well. Where

00:39:14 Speaker 09: previously that's always been a separate

00:39:18 Speaker 09: document, and that'll be the last

00:39:20 Speaker 09: one there on that. And these

00:39:23 Speaker 09: are gross expenditures of the budget;

00:39:25 Speaker 09: they are not the the levy

00:39:27 Speaker 09: of the budget. And then I

00:39:29 Speaker 09: can pass it off to you.

00:39:31 Speaker 09: So Randy's going to give us

00:39:33 Speaker 09: a a few opening remarks. before

00:39:36 Speaker 09: we actually get into the budget

00:39:39 Speaker 09: itself, Randy. Please. Great, thank you

00:39:41 Speaker 09: very much, Chair Chair Milne. Good

00:39:44 Speaker 09: morning, committee. So today's staff will

00:39:46 Speaker 09: be presenting an overview of Gray

00:39:48 Speaker 09: County's 2026 draft budget, as well

00:39:49 Speaker 09: as the projected 2027 budget. Part

00:39:51 Speaker 09: of the presentation will include the

00:39:54 Speaker 09: process that has taken place in

00:39:57 Speaker 09: order to create these draft budget

00:39:59 Speaker 09: documents. We're going to highlight the

00:40:01 Speaker 09: major assumptions and the impacts that

00:40:03 Speaker 09: have shaped both these budgets, such

00:40:06 Speaker 09: as anticipated provincial and federal funding,

00:40:08 Speaker 09: inflationary pressures, cost of living increases,

00:40:11 Speaker 09: estimate increase but increases for collective

00:40:14 Speaker 09: agreements, as well as benefit rate

00:40:16 Speaker 09: assumptions. We'll also review the directions

00:40:19 Speaker 09: that have been previously provided by

00:40:20 Speaker 09: council to date and highlight what

00:40:23 Speaker 09: has been included and not included

00:40:25 Speaker 09: in the draft budget based on

00:40:27 Speaker 09: overall timing constraints from those previous

00:40:29 Speaker 09: decisions. staff will also summarise budget

00:40:31 Speaker 09: reductions made prior to today,

00:40:34 Speaker 09: as well as the inclusion of

00:40:37 Speaker 09: prior year council initiatives and their

00:40:40 Speaker 09: impacts on the overall budget. We'll

00:40:42 Speaker 09: do a comparison between the 2025

00:40:44 Speaker 09: budget, what was projected for the

00:40:46 Speaker 09: 2026 budget back in 2025, as

00:40:48 Speaker 09: well as how that compares to

00:40:50 Speaker 09: the current draft 2026 budget. We'll

00:40:53 Speaker 09: highlight some of the main drivers

00:40:54 Speaker 09: in the projected budget, as well

00:40:57 Speaker 09: as any changes and additions that

00:41:01 Speaker 09: have been made throughout the year,

00:41:02 Speaker 09: based on council's direction, including things

00:41:04 Speaker 09: like the road exchanges, staffing requests,

00:41:06 Speaker 09: labour relations, court security increases, and

00:41:07 Speaker 09: increases associated with the OTEF transit

00:41:09 Speaker 09: project. We'll then switch over

00:41:13 Speaker 09: to the draft budget book

00:41:16 Speaker 09: that Garrett has just provided a

00:41:17 Speaker 09: high-level overview of what we'll be

00:41:19 Speaker 09: walking through. Each department will provide

00:41:20 Speaker 09: a high-level summary and main highlights,

00:41:23 Speaker 09: focusing on the operating budget. Focusing

00:41:24 Speaker 09: on the operating budgets, given that

00:41:27 Speaker 09: staff have already presented the capital

00:41:29 Speaker 09: draft capital budgets at the previous

00:41:31 Speaker 09: committee meeting, well, staff will answer

00:41:33 Speaker 09: any questions that committee may have.

00:41:35 Speaker 09: If we're not able to answer

00:41:37 Speaker 09: those questions today, we'll follow up

00:41:40 Speaker 09: as part of the December fifth

00:41:42 Speaker 09: and December twelfth budget presentations next

00:41:43 Speaker 09: month. Following the department operating budget

00:41:48 Speaker 09: presentations, we'll do a bit of

00:41:50 Speaker 09: a recap of some of the

00:41:51 Speaker 09: main overall budget drivers in the

00:41:53 Speaker 09: draft twenty. In the draft 2026

00:41:54 Speaker 09: budget, and then we will open

00:41:56 Speaker 09: it up for further discussion and

00:41:58 Speaker 09: questions. Staff are looking for any

00:41:59 Speaker 09: recommendations and direction from the committee

00:42:02 Speaker 09: on whether there is comfort in

00:42:04 Speaker 09: the overall budget numbers based on

00:42:06 Speaker 09: what you hear today, and if

00:42:07 Speaker 09: not, any recommendations on a preferred

00:42:11 Speaker 09: overall net levy target, and any

00:42:13 Speaker 09: recommendations on what areas you would

00:42:15 Speaker 09: suggest staff explore further for budget

00:42:16 Speaker 09: reduction opportunities. Staff will keep track

00:42:24 Speaker 09: of any suggestions. I'll keep track

00:42:25 Speaker 09: of any suggestions for potential budget

00:42:29 Speaker 09: changes as we go through the

00:42:31 Speaker 09: presentations today, and at the end

00:42:32 Speaker 05: of the meeting, clerk staff will

00:42:34 Speaker 05: go through that list and see

00:42:36 Speaker 05: if the committee wants to

00:42:40 Speaker 05: pass a motion on each of

00:42:42 Speaker 05: those recommended budget changes. Those recommendations

00:42:44 Speaker 05: will then be brought forward as

00:42:49 Speaker 05: a list of changes for council

00:42:52 Speaker 05: to consider as part of the

00:42:57 Speaker 05: budget deliberations in December. So, with

00:43:00 Speaker 05: that, if there's any questions, we

00:43:01 Speaker 05: can go into the presentations. But

00:43:03 Speaker 05: I'm happy to take any questions

00:43:05 Speaker 05: initially. Thank you, Randy. Are there

00:43:10 Speaker 05: any questions before we get into

00:43:12 Speaker 05: the budget itself, Councillor Gray? Just

00:43:13 Speaker 05: as a heads up, perhaps it's

00:43:17 Speaker 05: a little more fair to staff

00:43:19 Speaker 05: to have the data consider it,

00:43:22 Speaker 05: just to be able to have

00:43:24 Speaker 05: staffing complements available because that's the

00:43:26 Speaker 05: one one item that doesn't just

00:43:29 Speaker 05: populate out the document really quickly.

00:43:31 Speaker 05: All. Quickly. Also, we we would

00:43:33 Speaker 05: never want to entertain using one

00:43:36 Speaker 05: time funding for base budget items.

00:43:41 Speaker 05: However, there there are some items

00:43:44 Speaker 05: which are have a little bit

00:43:56 Speaker 05: more discretion that aren't aren't so

00:43:58 Speaker 10: much base budget all the time.

00:44:01 Speaker 11: A lot of the transitional costs

00:44:04 Speaker 11: for Rockwood come to mind. Is

00:44:07 Speaker 11: there a chance that staff can

00:44:10 Speaker 11: just with a click of a

00:44:12 Speaker 11: button generate just a photocopy of

00:44:14 Speaker 11: all the ins and outs from

00:44:17 Speaker 11: the one-time funding reserve this year,

00:44:19 Speaker 11: as well as next year, in

00:44:20 Speaker 11: terms of what's included in the

00:44:22 Speaker 11: budget. It's a ledger account, so

00:44:25 Speaker 11: I'm just thinking that's probably something

00:44:27 Speaker 11: that can be click-click and and

00:44:34 Speaker 11: show us where we're redirecting some

00:44:36 Speaker 11: of those one-time expenditures. I'll maybe

00:44:38 Speaker 11: direct that question to. finance staff.

00:44:40 Speaker 11: For you, Mr. Chair. Thank you

00:44:48 Speaker 11: for your question, Councillor Greg. It's

00:44:52 Speaker 11: it's not quite as simple as

00:44:54 Speaker 11: a click click, and we would

00:44:54 Speaker 11: want to validate some of the

00:44:56 Speaker 02: information again. We're just very new

00:45:04 Speaker 02: at using Questica. we're still using

00:45:06 Speaker 02: some of our Excel spreadsheets as

00:45:08 Speaker 02: well. Basically, we're wanting to compare

00:45:09 Speaker 02: and make sure that we're getting

00:45:11 Speaker 02: the right numbers. So, what I

00:45:13 Speaker 02: would suggest is we would bring

00:45:16 Speaker 02: that back for December fifth. We

00:45:17 Speaker 02: we want to be as accurate

00:45:20 Speaker 02: as possible, obviously. Okay. Any other

00:45:23 Speaker 02: questions for now, from for Randy

00:45:24 Speaker 12: before we dive into the budget

00:45:25 Speaker 12: itself? Okay. Not seeing any. Thank

00:45:28 Speaker 12: you, Randy. Um. So, Sue, welcome.

00:45:29 Speaker 12: She's going to take us through

00:45:31 Speaker 12: a number of things here. I

00:45:32 Speaker 12: see your name a lot on

00:45:34 Speaker 12: this list, so Sue, the floor

00:45:36 Speaker 12: is yours. There we go. Thank

00:45:37 Speaker 12: you. One comment before I get

00:45:39 Speaker 12: started into my thank you and

00:45:40 Speaker 12: through you. Mr. The Chair. Yes,

00:45:42 Speaker 12: so I have been actually working

00:45:44 Speaker 12: with Unisolutions, who is the company

00:45:46 Speaker 12: name, reviewing our QSC on the

00:45:48 Speaker 12: reserve continuities. It's sort of a

00:45:50 Speaker 12: newer product, but I've we still

00:45:52 Speaker 12: have some implementation hours we can

00:45:53 Speaker 12: use, and I have them. Hopefully,

00:45:54 Speaker 12: building us a report that will

00:45:57 Speaker 12: allow us to provide council and

00:46:01 Speaker 12: staff with a more thorough, like

00:46:03 Speaker 12: a 10-year lens on our reserve.

00:46:05 Speaker 12: So that is my goal: is

00:46:07 Speaker 12: to provide. Hopefully, cross my fingers,

00:46:09 Speaker 12: do a happy dance next year.

00:46:11 Speaker 12: You'll get a little. bit more

00:46:12 Speaker 12: information and a little bit more

00:46:13 Speaker 12: at our fingertips as well. So

00:46:14 Speaker 12: it's definitely in the works, but

00:46:16 Speaker 12: we're still crafting between a couple

00:46:17 Speaker 12: of things. So that's another exciting

00:46:19 Speaker 12: item for me to look forward

00:46:21 Speaker 12: to do next year. But let's

00:46:22 Speaker 12: talk about this year, last year,

00:46:25 Speaker 12: and where we've been because we're

00:46:26 Speaker 12: going to go on a bit

00:46:29 Speaker 12: of a journey today. So let's

00:46:31 Speaker 12: get started. We have a nice

00:46:32 Speaker 12: pictogram in here that you'll see,

00:46:35 Speaker 12: and thanks to I believe it

00:46:36 Speaker 12: was. Nile that did this for

00:46:39 Speaker 12: me on my behalf, because I

00:46:41 Speaker 12: was busy and didn't have the

00:46:42 Speaker 12: time to make it look as

00:46:45 Speaker 12: pretty as as my words were

00:46:46 Speaker 12: to begin with. So I will

00:46:48 Speaker 12: speak with him afterwards on

00:46:49 Speaker 12: how he used it, so that

00:46:52 Speaker 12: I can get better, more visuals

00:46:54 Speaker 12: to you. Because I do think

00:46:56 Speaker 12: there's a lot to be said

00:46:59 Speaker 12: for making things look pretty. So

00:47:01 Speaker 12: if we go back to last

00:47:02 Speaker 12: December, we sort of that was

00:47:03 Speaker 12: the first year council endorsed a

00:47:05 Speaker 12: current year budget and a current

00:47:07 Speaker 12: year projection, and it was sort

00:47:09 Speaker 12: of the first dip of the

00:47:12 Speaker 12: toe into our budgeting software. We

00:47:14 Speaker 12: relied; we didn't really focus on

00:47:16 Speaker 12: that as a presentation, as we

00:47:18 Speaker 12: will be today and going forward.

00:47:20 Speaker 12: Fast forward a bit into the

00:47:23 Speaker 12: spring, that's when we sort of

00:47:26 Speaker 12: started really implementing the budgeting software.

00:47:27 Speaker 12: I did some training across the

00:47:29 Speaker 12: board, held multiple sessions and operating

00:47:32 Speaker 12: sessions, capital sessions, and there's still

00:47:36 Speaker 12: lots to be learned. And I

00:47:40 Speaker 12: still in my brain have lots

00:47:43 Speaker 12: of things I'd like to change,

00:47:44 Speaker 12: even. from what we've done this

00:47:46 Speaker 12: year, to add some more information

00:47:47 Speaker 12: that I think will be relevant.

00:47:50 Speaker 12: And then in July and September,

00:47:52 Speaker 12: our financial analysts would have met

00:47:54 Speaker 12: with directors and their managers on

00:47:55 Speaker 12: budget discussions. Some started a little

00:47:58 Speaker 12: earlier than others, depending on the

00:48:00 Speaker 12: complexities of their budgets. And then

00:48:03 Speaker 12: we went into September, which we

00:48:06 Speaker 12: sort of provided our staffing requests

00:48:07 Speaker 12: that we had in our budget,

00:48:08 Speaker 12: which was endorsed and passed at

00:48:10 Speaker 12: that meeting. we went then into

00:48:13 Speaker 12: October, where we showed our capital

00:48:14 Speaker 12: ten-year forecast, which was using our

00:48:15 Speaker 12: budget book in Questaca. We did

00:48:17 Speaker 12: show you sort of just the

00:48:19 Speaker 12: first three years. We focused on

00:48:21 Speaker 12: the first three. The budget package

00:48:24 Speaker 12: that you see now online and

00:48:27 Speaker 12: before you actually hasn't and grossed.

00:48:28 Speaker 12: We showed you the full ten

00:48:29 Speaker 12: years, so it's a lot of

00:48:31 Speaker 12: more pages, but you have information

00:48:34 Speaker 12: on each capital project within. our

00:48:35 Speaker 12: ten-year capital forecast, and then in

00:48:37 Speaker 12: November, Marcus presented the to the

00:48:37 Speaker 12: Long Term Care Committee of Management

00:48:40 Speaker 12: the budgets that relate just to

00:48:43 Speaker 12: those functions, and that was passed

00:48:44 Speaker 12: along at that committee. And then

00:48:45 Speaker 12: it brings us back to today,

00:48:47 Speaker 12: where we're going to high level

00:48:49 Speaker 12: discuss what we've done, and then

00:48:51 Speaker 12: on December fifth and twelfth, we'll

00:48:53 Speaker 12: be bringing packages and everything back

00:48:54 Speaker 12: to Committee of the Whole, and

00:48:56 Speaker 12: you will see. I mentioned in

00:48:59 Speaker 12: my report there are some more.

00:49:00 Speaker 12: few things that we'll be adding

00:49:04 Speaker 12: to the information that you receive.

00:49:06 Speaker 12: More that relate to sort of

00:49:07 Speaker 12: the what you would typically have

00:49:08 Speaker 12: seen in our budget packages in

00:49:10 Speaker 12: the prior year in the front

00:49:12 Speaker 12: sections of the book relating to

00:49:16 Speaker 12: our reserves and more details on

00:49:18 Speaker 12: that where we sit from a

00:49:19 Speaker 12: debt financial and how that impacts

00:49:20 Speaker 12: with our ARL and stuff. So

00:49:22 Speaker 12: those will be shown. Currently, I

00:49:23 Speaker 12: have them set up as different

00:49:25 Speaker 12: documents, or they can be called

00:49:27 Speaker 12: a spotlight or a mini budget

00:49:30 Speaker 12: book. So they'll be separate documents.

00:49:32 Speaker 12: So there'll be separate documents that

00:49:36 Speaker 12: you can access. So look forward

00:49:38 Speaker 12: to showing you to those. So

00:49:39 Speaker 12: that's the journey to today. We'll

00:49:42 Speaker 12: we'll go a bit back and

00:49:45 Speaker 12: forth to the past and the

00:49:47 Speaker 12: future in a bit. But anyways,

00:49:48 Speaker 12: I'm going to now talk about

00:49:49 Speaker 12: our assumptions and impacts. We did

00:49:52 Speaker 12: present in September a detailed sort

00:49:55 Speaker 12: of report on our budget and

00:49:58 Speaker 12: assumptions. So I'm going to kind

00:50:01 Speaker 12: of just go over some of

00:50:03 Speaker 12: the highlights of those major ones

00:50:04 Speaker 12: or the ones that in fact

00:50:05 Speaker 12: us are in fact. Infect us,

00:50:07 Speaker 12: not infect us. Affect us a

00:50:10 Speaker 12: little bit more. Obviously, a lot

00:50:12 Speaker 12: of our departments work with provincial

00:50:14 Speaker 12: and federal grants. Some we know

00:50:17 Speaker 12: to date, some we don't. So

00:50:20 Speaker 12: typically, when we don't know what

00:50:23 Speaker 12: the budget is or the the

00:50:27 Speaker 12: allocation has been, and we will

00:50:31 Speaker 12: typically assume it's the best or

00:50:33 Speaker 12: not the best, but what we

00:50:34 Speaker 12: had in the prior year will

00:50:36 Speaker 12: inform this year's budget. We also

00:50:38 Speaker 12: are seeing still. inflationary increases across

00:50:41 Speaker 12: both from the CPI and the

00:50:42 Speaker 12: non-residential consumer price index, and those

00:50:44 Speaker 12: numbers can be quite different. I

00:50:47 Speaker 12: do have a sort of separate

00:50:48 Speaker 12: slide where I looked kind of

00:50:50 Speaker 12: historically what those differences have been,

00:50:52 Speaker 12: because unfortunately in our capital projects

00:50:54 Speaker 12: we sort of fall more in

00:50:56 Speaker 12: line on the non-residential costing, which

00:50:58 Speaker 12: is quite significantly higher than the

00:51:00 Speaker 12: current CPI, about two percent. We

00:51:03 Speaker 12: also have. our labour relations and

00:51:04 Speaker 12: staffing costs that affect us quite

00:51:06 Speaker 12: significantly within our budgets. HR will

00:51:09 Speaker 12: provide us those informations based on

00:51:11 Speaker 12: the information they have at time,

00:51:13 Speaker 12: based on if we have a

00:51:14 Speaker 12: collective agreement that we know the

00:51:16 Speaker 12: costs are or the increases that

00:51:17 Speaker 12: are based on the current collective

00:51:19 Speaker 12: agreements. But unfortunately, in this budget

00:51:20 Speaker 12: cycle, we have the bulk of

00:51:22 Speaker 12: our collective agreements are not settled,

00:51:23 Speaker 12: so they are based on estimates.

00:51:27 Speaker 12: of of where the human resources

00:51:30 Speaker 12: department feels that they will be,

00:51:35 Speaker 12: and then we also have just

00:51:37 Speaker 12: the general flow of staff throughout

00:51:38 Speaker 12: the year who move up steps

00:51:40 Speaker 12: every year, and or we have

00:51:42 Speaker 12: staff that you know may leave

00:51:44 Speaker 12: us and come, and also as

00:51:45 Speaker 12: Garrett mentioned, our benefit rates. Um,

00:51:48 Speaker 12: we know up until March thirty

00:51:49 Speaker 12: first exactly what our rates will

00:51:50 Speaker 12: be, and then we're basically projecting

00:51:52 Speaker 12: from that point on till the

00:51:53 Speaker 12: end of twenty twenty seven. We

00:51:55 Speaker 12: do reach out to our benefit.

00:51:57 Speaker 12: To our benefits brokers who help

00:51:59 Speaker 12: guide us in some of those

00:52:01 Speaker 12: decisions, but a lot can change

00:52:02 Speaker 12: in that time frame around benefits.

00:52:04 Speaker 12: So this slide here just sort

00:52:06 Speaker 12: of summarises over from 21 to

00:52:08 Speaker 12: 2024 what the impacts on inflation

00:52:10 Speaker 12: have been. So if we look

00:52:11 Speaker 12: at sort of an annual inflation

00:52:14 Speaker 12: rate across Canada, which may be

00:52:16 Speaker 12: different in different parts of Ontario,

00:52:17 Speaker 12: but I thought that was a

00:52:20 Speaker 12: good sort of lens to see.

00:52:21 Speaker 12: It was high. It was higher,

00:52:23 Speaker 12: and it's come down to around

00:52:25 Speaker 12: two point four, which is the

00:52:26 Speaker 12: same as the consumer price index

00:52:28 Speaker 12: at the end of twenty twenty

00:52:30 Speaker 12: four. But the last one is

00:52:32 Speaker 12: that non residential building. So we

00:52:35 Speaker 12: can I got that quarterly. So

00:52:40 Speaker 12: as of the last quarter of

00:52:41 Speaker 12: this year, it's sitting at four

00:52:43 Speaker 12: point two one percent over the

00:52:44 Speaker 12: quarter of last year, and twenty

00:52:45 Speaker 12: twenty four's was four point three

00:52:46 Speaker 12: one. So if you put that

00:52:48 Speaker 12: in context of what we actually

00:52:49 Speaker 12: spend in our capital budgets, we

00:52:50 Speaker 12: spend currently our overall expenditure about

00:52:52 Speaker 12: one hundred and fifty. About 115

00:52:55 Speaker 12: million, but you take out some

00:52:56 Speaker 12: of the salary and information and

00:52:59 Speaker 12: transfer reserves that wouldn't really lie

00:53:01 Speaker 12: on that. You take that at

00:53:03 Speaker 12: the 4%. It's it's still going

00:53:05 Speaker 12: to range around a 4 million

00:53:08 Speaker 12: in in dollars if you just

00:53:10 Speaker 12: did some really quick math. So

00:53:13 Speaker 12: it because our capital budgets are

00:53:15 Speaker 12: quite large, those inflationary impacts are

00:53:17 Speaker 12: very significant. As Randy had mentioned,

00:53:20 Speaker 12: we sort of just wanted to

00:53:21 Speaker 12: kind of highlight so you are

00:53:23 Speaker 12: aware of what we put in

00:53:24 Speaker 12: and not put. in because of

00:53:26 Speaker 12: the timing of when the meetings

00:53:27 Speaker 12: have had and when the committee

00:53:29 Speaker 12: of whole happens and then the

00:53:31 Speaker 12: next meeting the minutes actually get

00:53:34 Speaker 12: fully approved and are on record.

00:53:36 Speaker 12: So we we have included the

00:53:38 Speaker 12: staffing requests from the September twenty

00:53:40 Speaker 12: fourth meeting. You'll see the details

00:53:43 Speaker 12: in the next slide on those.

00:53:45 Speaker 12: We did include the road exchange

00:53:47 Speaker 12: based from the March twentieth urban

00:53:49 Speaker 12: road and urban road and road

00:53:50 Speaker 12: exchange task force. And then, but

00:53:52 Speaker 12: what we haven't included is any

00:53:53 Speaker 12: implications. due to discussions on our

00:53:56 Speaker 12: planning efficiencies that we've been having,

00:53:58 Speaker 12: and any recommendations from the last

00:54:02 Speaker 12: committee of the whole, which was

00:54:06 Speaker 12: November 13th, which was at the

00:54:08 Speaker 12: end of the day was to

00:54:09 Speaker 12: defer the 8 and paramedic base.

00:54:11 Speaker 12: So I do have a slide

00:54:21 Speaker 12: sort of letting you know what

00:54:22 Speaker 12: that impact will be when we

00:54:24 Speaker 12: get to a final if that

00:54:28 Speaker 12: sticks. So on this slide, so

00:54:31 Speaker 12: just to refresh every everyone's memory,

00:54:33 Speaker 12: is you will see all of

00:54:36 Speaker 12: the FTE or staffing. requests that

00:54:41 Speaker 12: are in the budget, you will

00:54:44 Speaker 05: have a detailed page in your

00:54:45 Speaker 05: budget book on each of these

00:54:48 Speaker 05: that basically takes the narrative out

00:54:49 Speaker 05: of the report that Nile did

00:54:51 Speaker 05: in September and is embedded right