Forestry to ask for bump in its budget
Seven new positions needed to investigate complaints on tree safety, department says
Toronto’s parks and forestry department is looking for a budget bump to deal with a big increase in complaints about tree safety.
According to a city staff report, there was a 71-per-cent increase in tree bylaw contravention complaints between 2011 and 2016. Staff are getting so overwhelmed they were only able to respond to half of last year’s allegations.
The average response time by then was about 43 days, said Andrew Pickett, policy and project adviser for Toronto Urban Forestry.
According to Pickett, the increase in complaints is a “direct result” of a similar rise in applications to work in areas with protected trees. Complaints typically stem from construction sites.
Offenders have 90 days to pay a fine and the city has the authority to add the fee to their property tax bill if it’s not paid in time.
As an emergency measure, city council approved the hiring of six temporary positions: five arborist inspectors and one supervisor. This $284,000 intervention from January to June 2017 resulted in 89 per cent of complaints being investigated, with an average response time of eight days, Pickett said.
As the volume of complaints is expected to continue, staff recommend extending the temporary positions for another eight months, until February.
The extension is expected to cost the city about $394,000, which will be fully funded through the collec- tion of permit and inspection fees, according to a staff report.
For next year’s operating budget, Urban Forestry will propose the creation of seven permanent positions, at a projected cost of $696,000.