TAMRMS#: B06
5.2
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2024 Budget Deliberation Process
Presented by: Marta Caufield, Chief Legislative Officer
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RECOMMENDED MOTIONS
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1. That section 63 of the Procedure Bylaw (24/2022) be suspended for the 2024 Budget Process to allow the reordering of agenda items and the addition of information as required without formally amending the agenda.
(requires unanimous consent of all members present - Procedure Bylaw s. 3(6))
2. That consideration of proposed amendments to the proposed 2024 Operating and Capital Budgets made during presentations be automatically postponed without need of a motion to that effect, until all presentations have been completed.
3. That the Budget Information Requests and Postponed Motions received to date, set out as attachments to the report dated October 24, 2023, entitled "2024 Budget Deliberation Process", are hereby accepted as presented and deemed fully a part of the 2024 Budget Deliberation Process as though they were read verbatim into the record.
4. That Council move into Committee of the Whole.
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PURPOSE OF REPORT
This report provides a proposed methodology for Council to use in the 2024 Budget Deliberation Process. Passing the recommended motions will allow Council a greater degree of flexibility in dealing with the first phase of presentations and discussions with respect to the 2024 operating and capital budgets.
COUNCIL DIRECTION
The Procedure Bylaw provides that:
- Council may waive or vary all or some of the provisions of this bylaw for a meeting or a portion of a meeting, “if the Councillors present vote unanimously to do so” (s. 3(6));
- Council may convene as a Committee of the Whole which “may consider any matter that Council may consider, including but not limited to detailed consideration of . . . the budget” (s. 23(a));
- Committee of the Whole may “give direction to the Chief Administrative Officer in the preparation and continued development of a matter being reviewed by the Committee of the Whole … prior to those matters being transmitted from Committee of the Whole … to Council” (s. 24(i));
- The procedures of Council are relaxed in Committee of the Whole as follows:
• A member of Council may speak even though there is no motion on the floor, but if there is a motion on the floor a member of Council shall only address that motion;
• A member of Council may speak more than once, provided that each member of Council who wishes to speak to the matter has already been permitted to do so;
• No notice needs to be given of any motion to be made; and
• The Mayor may make a motion on any matter without relinquishing the chair
(s. 30); and
- Subject to section 24, Committee of the Whole may make motions to “give direction to the CAO” (s. 31(d));
- when the chair is satisfied that all questions from Council members, either to the CAO or to the Council member who moved the motion, have been responded to, the chair accepts the motion provided that upon being accepted by the chair a motion may not be withdrawn by the Council member who moved it, but a motion may at any time prior to being put to a vote (including a vote on a proposed amendment to the motion) be subject to revision through friendly amendment by way of general consent (s. 65(d)).
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Historically, Council has exercised its option to move into Committee of the Whole during the first phase of the budget process when much information is presented, and a variety of spending and revenue alternatives are considered. By taking this step, Council obtains significantly more procedural flexibility than is allowed in Regular Council meetings.
The Procedure Bylaw was amended at the end of 2022, and again on August 15, 2023, and when read holistically, these amendments provide greater flexibility to Council members when they meet in Committee of the Whole. From time to time, especially during the budget process, even more relaxation of the normal rules of procedure than is provided for by section 30 of the Procedure Bylaw may be appropriate. This can be done under of the Procedure Bylaw if each Councillor present votes in favour of waiving all or part of the provisions of the Procedure Bylaw for a meeting or a portion of a meeting.
The type of circumstance where greater flexibility has proven to be useful in the past is as follows:
1. Section 63 of the Procedure Bylaw states that:
The order of business for each Meeting will be determined by the Chair unless a matter has been scheduled for a specific time.
The 2024 Budget will be considered in a series of sessions commencing with some of the departmental presentations on October 30, 2023. Outside agency presentations are currently in the leadoff spot on this date with some additional departmental presentations to follow on same date and November 1, 2023. These budget sessions are intended to give Council members an opportunity for detailed scrutiny of the budget documents including informal questions, formal Budget Information Requests, and Postponed Motions to amend the budget. During this process, in order to facilitate a smooth flow of business, there may be a need to reorder or add agenda items, or for Administration to respond to previous or newly arising Budget Information Requests. By suspending section 63 this can be done without the necessity for Council repeatedly to amend the agenda by resolution. (This is the basis for Recommended Motion #1 above)
The Agenda as presented calls for department presentations prior to Council (in Committee of the Whole) moving into the fine-tuning phase in preparation for final approval of the operating and capital budgets.
Throughout this process it is important that members of Council have no procedural obstacles to asking questions, receiving additional information on specific issues, or proposing motions that, if adopted, would have an impact on the final mathematics of the budget.
Requests for information, where the response can be provided immediately, will not appear in the minutes. When additional research is required, the request will be recorded in the minutes and Administration will provide the response to Council at the earliest possible opportunity.
Recommended Motion #2 clarifies that voting on any motion seeking to amend the 2024 Budget, made during the department presentations, will be postponed until all the presentations have been heard.
Recommended Motion #3 - The Budget Information Requests (BIRs) and Postponed Motions (PMs) set out as attachments are somewhat lengthy and are set out in a format that can be awkward to read through orally. Passing this motion would save Council some time and would also ensure that the BIRs and PMs are strictly accurate.
Recommended Motion #4 - Following adoption of the procedural motions as outlined in Recommended Motions #1 through #3, a motion to move into Committee of the Whole would be appropriate.
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Report Date: October 24, 2023
Author: Marta Caufield, Chief Legislative Officer
Department: Legal, Legislative & Records Services
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer: Kerry Hilts
Chief Administrative Officer: William Fletcher