NPCA slammed at Region
A two-page letter wasn’t enough to entice members of the Region’s budget review committee to agree to shell out $7 million to the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority — although they will ultimately have to pay the bill anyway.
Committee members voted 16-2 in favour of a motion by Port Colborne Mayor John Maloney, to defer the NPCA budget until more information can be provided. Only NPCA board member and Grimsby Coun. Tony Quirk and Niagara Falls Coun. Selina Volpatti were opposed.
“I find it absolutely astounding to be asked to even accept a document or a budget when we don’t even know anything about the budget, other than the barest of information,” said Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop at a Region budget committee meeting, Thursday.
After hearing detailed presentations from the Niagara Regional Police and Niagara Regional Housing regarding the budgets of the respective agencies, the only information committee members received about the NPCA’s budget was a letter containing the organization’s municipal apportionment levy for 2018, sent on Nov. 15 from NPCA chief administrative officer Mark Brickell.
The levy allots $6,997,546 of NPCA funding from Niagara, $1.4 million from Hamilton, and $114,643 from Haldimand.
“I can’t support this,” Redekop said. “I don’t even know what the budget’s about. We have a letter with a little bit of information – nothing to indicate what the budget was last year, nothing to indicate whether it meets guidance, nothing to indicate where these monies are going.”
Several councillors echoed his concerns, including St. Catharines Coun. Brian Heit.
“I can’t accept this either without all the details,” Heit said. “There’s all kinds of questions that we have to ask and there’s no one really here to put on a presentation and look at a full budget.”
St. Catharines Coun. Tim Rigby said in all the past years, the NPCA has always presented its budget to the Region’s committee.
He said the failure to do so this year “is just another example of what people are pointing at and saying something has got to change,” he said.
Acting corporate services commissioner Jason Burgess said the NPCA is under no obligation to present its budget to regional councillors.
“They’re really only required to present their apportionment to us, which is what they’ve done,” he pointed out.
Nevertheless, Burgess said regional staff can request more information from the agency.
NPCA board chair Fort Erie Coun. Sandy Annunziata called the NPCA budget a “very public document,” and said the agency “has no problem providing more detail.”
Quirk told committee members the Region doesn’t have to approve the NPCA budget, or even vote to receive the document.
“You’re still going to have to pay the bill,” he said.
“With respect to the budget, we are below guidance,” Quirk added, referring to a request from regional council to keep increases to 1.5 per cent or lower. “We’re at negative 6.4 per cent as far as Niagara is concerned, and that is based on what we levied last year.”
Quirk said Niagara can appeal the apportionment allotted to the Region, “but that would be unwise in my opinion, because we’ve just been fighting to get Hamilton to accept the current apportionment.”
Hamilton’s 2015 appeal of the apportionment change, which resulted in a smaller share of the budget being charged to Niagara and more charged to Hamilton, is still being reviewed.
Heit asked if the NPCA’s budget also reflects the change in apportionment between the municipalities.
“In theory the conservation authority right now has a million and a half of the Region’s money sitting in a reserve fund, I’m assuming,” Heit said.
Niagara chief administrative officer Carmen D’Angelo told Hiet he’s correct.
“There are funds being held in reserve at the conservation authority. It’s allocated to a very specific Niagara fund” pending the outcome of Hamilton’s appeal, D’Angelo said.
“Why don’t we leave it in our reserve and not have it sit at the conservation authority?” Heit replied.
Quirk pointed out that the reserve fund for Niagara was established through a motion by former board member and Lincoln Coun. Bill Hodgson.
Pelham Mayor David Augustyn asked for more information about the NPCA budget prior to the meeting, and was told by Burgess that although he would try to add context to the information, some of the questions from committee members might need to be referred to the NPCA.
Considering the lack of information, Augustyn said he did his own calculations.
The NPCA’s apportionment document includes a levy of $4.8 million for Niagara this year, as well as a special levy of $2.1 million, for a total of just under $7-million. A year earlier, Niagara’s levy was $4.7 million and the special levy was $2.7 million for a total bill of $7.4-million.
Despite the 21 per cent decrease on the special levy, Augustyn said about $570,000 of that reduction can be attributed to a change in a memorandum of understanding that will now require regional planning staff to interpret and comment on the Region’s natural heritage policies – a service previously done by NPCA staff.
As a result, he said, “It looks like the authority is not meeting budget guidance, because the Niagara levy portion is going up by my calculations 2.3 per cent.”
Quirk contradicted Augustyn’s calculations.
“When we’re getting misinformation, I think that’s a point of order,” Quirk said.
Burgess agreed with Quirk, adding the overall budget impact on the Region is expected to be a 2.27 per cent reduction. ABenner@postmedia.com twitter.com/abenner1