Following resolution be reconsidered: That Council amends the 2026 operating budget by increasing the transfer to the 100RE reserve fund by $500,000…

4:36:16It's the budget impacts for Ontario Regulation 28409,

4:36:22public sector accounting standards, reconciliation,

4:36:27would someone be willing to move that down

4:36:29or in Boussatil?

4:36:30Thank you.

4:36:32Anything on that, anybody?

4:36:35Okay, I'll call the vote.

4:36:36Is there anyone against that?

4:36:39No.

4:36:41Okay, so the last one is shortening

4:36:44of the 30 day budget amendment period.

4:36:47So I just need to confer with the clerk

4:36:49for one moment here.

4:36:50So, okay, so council, I think I would,

4:37:03I need the clerks to jump in just on a process question

4:37:07because we've never done this before,

4:37:09but I would like to take some sort of a break

4:37:12because I would like to consider videoing

4:37:14some of the decisions that have been made.

4:37:16So can I ask Dylan, can you please just walk us

4:37:19through that process for a second?

4:37:21And if this motion is needed now or later?

4:37:24Through you, Mr. Mayor, thank you.

4:37:25So the motion before council right now

4:37:27is to shorten the 30 day window that you have

4:37:29to amend the mayor's proposed budget.

4:37:32Once council passes this resolution,

4:37:34your ability to amend the proposed budget will end

4:37:36and that starts the clock in a veto period for the mayor.

4:37:39So should council wish to shorten the period

4:37:42to enable those vetoes to happen today,

4:37:44it's that motion that would need to be passed

4:37:47and we can throw it up on the screen

4:37:48for council's consideration.

4:37:54Okay, just so just one second.

4:37:56Thank you.

4:37:58Sorry, councillor Goller, what do you say?

4:37:59Thank you, worship.

4:38:00I just sent out a message of notice of reconsideration

4:38:03for one of the things that we approved today.

4:38:07I'm wondering if that might be in order before these motions.

4:38:14Through you, Mr. Mayor, to the councillor Goller,

4:38:17that motion would be out of order

4:38:19if the amendment period is shortened.

4:38:23And we would also need to suspend the rules of procedure

4:38:26to allow a notice of reconsideration to come forward

4:38:28or can we do it in on the fly within the budget meeting?

4:38:32I think we can, right?

4:38:33Through you, Mr. Mayor, council can reconsider decisions

4:38:36that were made at that same meeting

4:38:37with a simple majority vote.

4:38:39So you'd vote to reconsider

4:38:41and then you would vote on something to replace

4:38:42presumably what was reconsidered.

4:38:44Okay, sorry, I'm just, I'm just seeing this email now.

4:38:49Okay, let's follow the procedure then.

4:38:54Just one second.

4:38:58Okay, we can't debate this

4:39:01until we even allow ourselves to consider debating it.

4:39:05It all is dependent upon whether or not

4:39:07a motion to reconsider would even pass,

4:39:11which requires a super majority of council

4:39:14or does it only require a regular majority?

4:39:17Through you, Mr. Mayor,

4:39:18reconsideration is done at the same meeting.

4:39:20It requires a simple majority.

4:39:22We can be moved, seconded and voted on

4:39:23like any other motion and we have it ready to display

4:39:25if it is moved.

4:39:26Oh, okay, all right, you're ahead of me.

4:39:28Okay, so then, okay, you have the right to do that.

4:39:33We're in the middle of a budget meeting.

4:39:34So you go ahead, you can table that

4:39:37and then if you could put it up on the screen,

4:39:39but I would like to see if there's even a seconder.

4:39:41So I'm sure.

4:39:42I'll just say what it is.

4:39:45I'm asking that we reconsider the motion

4:39:47to allocate 500,000 to the hundred RE,

4:39:50just looking at where the budget is now

4:39:53after all the other things that have been approved.

4:39:56I personally, when I supported this,

4:39:59I did not think that some of the other motions

4:40:01would be getting approved.

4:40:02So I would like us to reconsider.

4:40:04And instead, if this is approved,

4:40:06I will be moving a motion that puts it at 250,000

4:40:09instead of the 500.

4:40:12Okay, so from a clerk's perspective,

4:40:14that you're okay with this?

4:40:15Okay, is there a seconder?

4:40:18Downer.

4:40:19Okay, so it's moved and seconded.

4:40:22And now I've got a question from Councillor Gibson.

4:40:24Moved by someone who was in favor of it before,

4:40:28but also seconded by someone who was in favor before.

4:40:30Just want to make sure this is a reconsideration.

4:40:33So you were in favor of this.

4:40:34Is this within the same meeting?

4:40:35Yeah.

4:40:38No, we don't have to do a super majority

4:40:40to even talk about it.

4:40:41So this motion has now passed.

4:40:45So it's on the table for debate and discussion

4:40:48as it was presented,

4:40:49which is to the clerks is reducing it down to 250.

4:40:52So that's basically what we're doing now,

4:40:55or do we just do a motion to reconsider that's passed?

4:40:58And now this motion needs to be tabled.

4:41:01Through you, Mr. Mayor.

4:41:03I apologize if I missed a vote there,

4:41:05but I believe there's a motion on the floor

4:41:07for the resolution to be reconsidered.

4:41:09After that reconsideration, if it is passed,

4:41:12then a new motion can be moved.

4:41:15Okay, yep.

4:41:16Okay, so this vote is the one that would basically

4:41:20allow us to go back and reconsider.

4:41:22So can I call the vote on that?

4:41:25Okay, is there anyone against that?

4:41:29Okay, Councillor Kerrant.

4:41:30Okay, fair enough.

4:41:31Fair enough.

4:41:32Okay, so now this item is sort of live on the floor.

4:41:39Okay, so was there a second part of that motion then?

4:41:44Sorry, Councillor Gaur, I just, I didn't know.

4:41:47I'm glad, but I just didn't know.

4:41:50Thank you, Chair Worship.

4:41:51Okay, so now you could table this as an actual amount

4:41:55and you could, we'll look for a seconder.

4:41:57Do you want to just read it out

4:41:58and then we'll see if there's a seconder.

4:42:00Yes, your Worship.

4:42:00I move that we allocate $250,000 to the 100REGGO261 reserve,

4:42:08which is, yeah, we previously had 500,000 in there,

4:42:12but given everything else that we have approved,

4:42:14I think this amount would still allow us to do some work

4:42:18to leverage grants from other levels of government

4:42:21that may become available

4:42:23while reducing the overall impact to our community.

4:42:29Okay, is there a seconder for 250?

4:42:31Okay, downer, we'll do that.

4:42:36Okay, can we have like 10 more motions that are all reducing?

4:42:42Is this a trend?

4:42:45Okay, Councillor Kerrant wants to talk about that.

4:42:48Sure, I'm sure it'll come as no surprise

4:42:50that I want to address it.

4:42:51And I actually, I do appreciate the reason why

4:42:53is that we're at the end of our budget meeting

4:42:56and we're dealing with a whole number now

4:42:59and we're seeing what the impact that whole number is.

4:43:01So we're looking for ways to get that number down

4:43:03a little bit and I do appreciate that.

4:43:05So thank you, Councillor Goller.

4:43:07I will be voting against it though

4:43:08because as I'm evaluating all those line items

4:43:11and I'm looking at the massive amount

4:43:13of capital spending we're doing

4:43:16and operational spending that we're doing.

4:43:18And I go back to the principle of sometimes,

4:43:21sometimes you have to spend money to save money.

4:43:24And this is one of those line items.

4:43:25So there was a comment a little earlier

4:43:28where it's just going into reserve.

4:43:29We don't have an earmark for anything.

4:43:31So our reserve is currently at 1.9 million.

4:43:34We do have money going into it in 2025

4:43:36but we have, according to our finance staff,

4:43:39and correct me if I'm wrong,

4:43:41because we did have that budget impact

4:43:44part of our budget statement.

4:43:47We have $2.2 million in projects

4:43:51that we've already committed from this reserve

4:43:54that includes wealth transit and fleet services facility,

4:43:58route reviews and transit bus replacement

4:44:00with electrification of our fleet.

4:44:03And yes, we do have money going in in 2026 as well.

4:44:07But we know that transportation is only one part.

4:44:10So the commitments that we've made on transportation

4:44:13from the 100 RE reserve.

4:44:16We also have the number two,

4:44:18actually I think transportation is number two

4:44:20and the number one bank for your buck is buildings.

4:44:24And ironically, or serendipitously, at 1203

4:44:28while we were at lunch,

4:44:30we all got an email from Built Green Canada that came in

4:44:33that talked about green infrastructure

4:44:36and green investments in multi-res commercial buildings,

4:44:38high density older buildings.

4:44:40And we talked about that during a lot of our,

4:44:42like why can't landlords apply for some of our green funds

4:44:47to be able to lower their energy costs

4:44:49and therefore create more affordable housing with utilities.

4:44:53So today we funded, and rightfully so, social services,

4:44:58which is clearly out of our lane.

4:45:01But city building is our lane.

4:45:04Long-term fiscal planning is our lane

4:45:06and keeping taxes down and protecting ourselves

4:45:08from the rising and unpredictable energy costs

4:45:11is definitely our lane.

4:45:14So we've depleted this reserve

4:45:15and this reserve is helping our residents

4:45:18reduce their utilities and saving households money.

4:45:20The next frontier, like if we're saying

4:45:22it's going into reserve, it's going nowhere.

4:45:24Our next frontier, and we've already talked about this,

4:45:27is rentals, because buildings are the number one contributor

4:45:29to climate change.

4:45:31So programs for conservation and conversion of high density

4:45:34and multi-residential to lower utility costs,

4:45:37especially if we use the 100 RE money with conditions

4:45:41that are related to passing on those services

4:45:44to tenants, or savings to tenants.

4:45:45This money is going directly back into the pockets

4:45:48of residents who need the relief the most.

4:45:50So if we reduce this to 250, I think we're losing out

4:45:53on all those benefits and compounded savings over time.

4:45:57So again, I just, you know, I won't keep going on,

4:45:59but for every dollar we invest in climate action,

4:46:03$13 to $15 worth of benefit within 10 years.

4:46:07So I think that's good value.

4:46:08I think that's fiscally responsible.

4:46:10I think that's in our strategic plan,

4:46:12and that's meeting our obligation to the next generation.

4:46:15So I'd like to keep it at the 500K,

4:46:17but of course the will of council always prevails,

4:46:19and we will follow the will of council.

4:46:24Okay, thank you.

4:46:28So based on what Councillor Caron just brought up,

4:46:32I just do have a clarifying question then for staff.

4:46:35You currently, I'll just kind of try to make them yes or no.

4:46:39You currently do have 1.9 in the reserve, is that right?

4:46:46To you, the mayor, there is a projected balance

4:46:50at the end of 2025 of 1.9 million

4:46:53in that 100RE reserve fund.

4:46:54And I just wanna, if I could have a moment to just clarify,

4:46:57there's two separate things called 100RE.

4:47:00There's the reserve fund, the capital reserve fund

4:47:03that helps to fund capital projects,

4:47:05including transit electrification.

4:47:08And then there is 100RE capital project

4:47:11that helps to, that leverages that funding for retrofits.

4:47:18And there's probably more to say about that,

4:47:20that DCO gaming could add if anyone needs clarity.

4:47:25No, I think that's where I was going on my question,

4:47:27is just to make sure that it wasn't one reserve,

4:47:30that there is two earmarks for the two different things,

4:47:34but not as one whole.

4:47:37And then I'd like to just ask about the leveraging

4:47:40of upper levels of government question.

4:47:43So with my specific question is,

4:47:48if there is no money put into this account,

4:47:52does that mean you will not leverage

4:47:54any upper levels of government funding for this work?

4:48:00So to the mayor, I would say that right now we've utilized

4:48:05and we've leveraged the 100RE reserve funding

4:48:08for the ISIP grant.

4:48:10It's significant, it's a significant amount of money

4:48:13that we've leveraged with that money.

4:48:16If there was a new opportunity that we're not aware of right

4:48:19now and that there was no other way to leverage

4:48:24or to access that grant,

4:48:25we would be back in front of council to have that discussion.

4:48:30Okay, I appreciate that.

4:48:32Okay, so let's take the vote, okay?

4:48:38So the vote is to go to 250, it's as simple as that, okay?

4:48:49Yeah, so it's, yeah, the vote is 250

4:48:54or it won't be anything, yeah, so, okay?

4:48:57So, yeah.

4:49:01This motion here is to replace the previous motion.

4:49:04So if it fails, it means the previous motion still stands.

4:49:09We would have to place the previous motion

4:49:13back on the floor.

4:49:14Yard clerks will answer that, okay?

4:49:17Through you, Mr. Mayor, to council the crown,

4:49:19when council reconsider a decision,

4:49:21it effectively takes you back to the moment

4:49:23before the original decision was passed.

4:49:25So there is nothing on the books right now

4:49:27related to 100RE unless this motion passes.

4:49:30But council could put forward another motion.

4:49:32So it could fail and I could put 350 or 400 back on.

4:49:36Okay, well, I was gonna vote against anyway,

4:49:38now I'm gonna vote against twice.

4:49:41Okay, okay, okay.

4:49:44If I may procedurally, I believe that if this fails,

4:49:48we're not going up.

4:49:49So if someone wants to increase it,

4:49:51maybe now as an amendment,

4:49:52it could be increased to a different amount, just, right?

4:49:56It is a live motion that could be amended.

4:50:01If without any amendments,

4:50:02we're just voting on 250 or not, okay?

4:50:05Is there anything else on this, councillor Caron?

4:50:09I'm gonna make an amendment.

4:50:10Okay.

4:50:11Because I'm recognizing I'm hearing my council colleagues

4:50:14uncomfortable with 500K, I respect that.

4:50:17250 just doesn't give us leverage

4:50:19to be doing major projects

4:50:24that I think are gonna get us that bang for the buck.

4:50:27So I'm gonna amend it to $350,000.

4:50:33Go middle ground there.

4:50:36Is there a seconder for 350?

4:50:39Okay, councillor Allt will second that for 350.

4:50:42Okay, so we're gonna call the amendment,

4:50:45a vote on the amendment only of 350, okay?

4:50:49I'm gonna call that vote now.

4:50:50Anyone's against that, please raise your hand.

4:50:57Billings and Guthrie and Gibson and Chu.

4:51:00Sounds like I'm doing like a Christmas Carol or something.

4:51:04Oh my, oh my, okay.

4:51:07Billings and Guthrie and Gibson and Chu and Gaulder

4:51:12and Richardson and Kloss and Boussatil

4:51:15and Downer and Hauser, okay.

4:51:18Yes.

4:51:20All right, so that fails on the amendment.

4:51:22So we're back to the 250, okay?

4:51:25If there's, so I'll call the vote on the 250.

4:51:27If you're against the 250, please raise your hand.

4:51:31Okay, so it's just Cron and Guthrie

4:51:37and Richardson and Chu and Billings and Gibson.

4:51:43I think that's seven, no, it's seven, six, right?

4:51:48Yeah, so it passes, so it's at 250, okay?

4:51:53Okay, thank you.

4:51:56All right, so now we can get to this part here,

4:52:01the shortening of the 30-day budget amendment period.

4:52:04So can you please put that up on the screen?

4:52:08I have a point of order on this as well, Mayor Guthrie.

4:52:10Sure, go ahead.

4:52:12I'm just curious, is this enabling for this budget alone

4:52:16or is this ongoing for budgets in the future?

4:52:21Through you, Mr. Mayor, this would apply only

4:52:22to the 2026 budget process.

4:52:24Thank you.

4:52:28Councillor Allt, would you move this one?

4:52:31Just want to move this?

4:52:33Yeah.

4:52:33And Hauser will second it, okay.

4:52:36And so I'll call the vote on that, is anyone against that?

4:52:41Okay, nobody?