Update on the Montreal Police Service from Mayor Steinberg

In my Mayor’s message last month, I mentioned that I sit on the Agglomeration Public Security Commission and I promised that I would be very vocal if the police did not present a reasonable budget. They did not and I produced a Minority report which paints an accurate picture of the out of control spending of the police and of the poor performance of Montreal compared to Toronto.

Henry Aubin of The Gazette wrote a column about this and praised my Minority report as making good sense as opposed to the Majority report which simply asked Quebec for more money.

The Aubin column reprinted with permission of the author: http://www.hampstead.qc.ca/uploads/files/docs/henri_aubin_article_dec18_2010.pdf

My Minority report is here: http://www.hampstead.qc.ca/uploads/files/docs/public_security_commission_minority_report.pdf

Message du maire Steinberg à propos du service de police

Dans mon message du maire le mois dernier, j’ai mentionné que je siège à la Commission de la sécurité publique de l’agglomération et j’ai promis de m’exprimer si la police ne présentait pas un budget raisonnable. Ils ne l’ont pas fait et j’ai produit un rapport minoritaire qui dresse un tableau des dépenses hors de contrôle de la police et la piètre performance de Montréal lorsque comparée à Toronto.

Henry Aubin de The Gazette a écrit un article sur le sujet et applaudit mon rapport minoritaire pour son bon sens lorsque comparé au rapport majoritaire qui demande simplement à Québec pour plus d’argent.

L’article d’Aubin avec la permission de l’auteur. http://www.hampstead.qc.ca/uploads/files/docs/henri_aubin_article_dec18_2010.pdf

Mon rapport minoritaire est accessible ici. http://www.hampstead.qc.ca/uploads/files/docs/public_security_commission_minority_report_fr.pdf

As the Mayor of Hampstead, I have a lot of influence on what we do in Hampstead and on controlling expenses. Over the last several years local tax increases in Hampstead have been well below inflation but we also have to pay our share of the Agglomeration expenses. Increases in the Agglomeration expenses have been shocking and there is nothing that I or my fellow suburban Mayors can do. The Agglomeration is controlled by Montreal

Nevertheless, the Mayors do sit on some Agglomeration Commissions and we can speak out even if our voices are usually ignored. In my case, I sit on the very important Public Security Commission. This commission reviews the police (SPVM) and fire (SIM) departments. On Friday, Dec. 17, our report on the SPVM and SIM budgets was tabled. I tabled a minority report because the commission’s majority report did not paint the whole picture. In my report I highlighted several facts:

The SPVM budgets over the past 4 years have climbed at three times the rate of inflation. Every year the budgets are overshot by an average of over 6%. This year the budget is up a shocking 8% on top of all the past increases. We pay 18% more than Toronto if one adjusts for the 30% higher cost of living and we have more police per resident. In spite of all this our major crime solution rate is much lower than Toronto’s. You can read the minority report and my recommendations here.

Public Security Commission Minority Report

Prepared by William Steinberg, Mayor Town of Hampstead

WHEREAS spending by the SPVM from 2006 to 2010 has climbed at over 3 times the rate of inflation. Expenses in 2006 were $476,138,000; by 2010 expenses had climbed to $607,900,000, an increase of 27.7%.

WHEREAS the net budget increase in 2011 is 8%, more than double the expected inflation rate.

WHEREAS the SPVM budgets have been exceeded each year, for the past four years, by an average amount of 6.5%.

WHEREAS there is new senior management at the SPVM and it is hoped that the poor budget performance of the past four years can be significantly improved under this new management team.

WHEREAS it is too late to reasonably reject the 2011 budget

R.1 It is recommended that the SPVM budget of 2011 be accepted, provided that the draft budget for 2012 be presented to this commission no later than September 1, 2011; that monthly reports be given to this commission, showing actual spending and revenues compared to budget projections, starting in February; and that the SPVM commit to taking all necessary steps to not exceed the 2011 budget.

WHEREAS Montreal has more police officers per 100,000 residents (241) than Toronto (212) and yet our major crime solution rate is lower.

WHEREAS according to the most recent annual Statistics Canada report, Montreal has the second worst solution rate of the 10 largest cities in Canada, just barely better than Vancouver.

WHEREAS Montreal’s police cost per 100,000 residents is $315 while it is $348 in Toronto. However the cost of living in Toronto is 30% higher than in Montreal. Making the adjustment for this difference, the Montreal cost becomes $409.50 which is 18% higher than the cost in Toronto.

WHEREAS the SPVM state that they provide more services than the Toronto police and that the crime solution statistics are misleading.

WHEREAS this commission cannot evaluate the performance of the SPVM relative to the cost, nor the reasonableness of its budgets, without knowing how the SPVM compares to Toronto and other large Canadian cities.

WHEREAS if it is true that the SPVM does more than the Toronto police, this commission should be able to examine the extra activities, relative to cost, and determine if these activities are justified and whether each activity is a good use of limited resources.

R.2 It is recommended that the SPVM provide a report showing the services rendered by the SPVM as compared to those provided in Toronto along with the comparative costs of each activity for both cities.

R.3 It is recommended that the SPVM provide reports comparing Montreal crime solution rates to other, large, Canadian cities.

WHEREAS the main force driving up policing costs is salaries and generous pension plan benefits.

WHEREAS the rules governing the pension plans can not be changed by the SPVM management.

R.4 It is recommended that Montreal ask the Quebec government to help find solutions to these problems as Montreal drives the Quebec economy and Agglomeration property taxpayers have limited means to pay constant increases in policing costs well above the rate of inflation.

Hampstead's Town Council becomes paperless

The Town is proud to announce that its council is one of the first in the province to become entirely paperless.

The Town has recently implemented a series of changes in its information technology services to permit its council to receive documents electronically. The Mayor and councillors now have access to iPads that allow for a quick and easy view of electronic documents, such as documents for council meetings.

"I, and many of the councillors, are delighted with this new technology" explained Mayor Steinberg. "It is much easier to work with the iPad than with 300 pages of paper. This is only the first step in a longer term plan to move towards a paperless office. We will reduce our carbon footprint, save money and be more efficient."

“This endeavour was something that we dreamed about and we are very passionate about being environmentally responsible to our Town and our planet,” added Michael Goldwax, Portfolio Chair, Information & Technology.

Hampstead is proud to contribute to reducing the Town’s carbon footprint by considerably reducing, to practically nil, the paper that is used for council communications and documents. The new venture is part of a large-scale transformation of the Town’s information technology services with the aim of reducing Hampstead’s carbon footprint.

Le conseil de Hampstead est maintenant « sans papier »

La Ville est fière d’annoncer que son conseil est l’un des premiers de la province à fonctionner sans support papier.

La Ville a récemment apporté une série de changements à ses services de technologie de l’information en vue de permettre au conseil de recevoir les documents sous forme électronique. À l’aide d’un iPad, le maire et les conseillers peuvent maintenant visionner les documents des séances du conseil aisément et rapidement.

« Tout comme moi, beaucoup de conseillers sont très satisfaits de cette nouvelle technologie, explique le maire Steinberg. C’est plus facile de travailler avec le iPad qu’avec 300 feuilles de papier. Et ce n’est que la première étape d’un projet à long terme qui nous rapproche du bureau sans papier et qui nous permettra de réduire notre empreinte de carbone tout en économisant de l’argent et en étant plus efficace. »

« Ce projet, nous en rêvions depuis un certain temps, et le respect de l’environnement est pour nous une valeur fondamentale, pour l’avenir de notre ville et celui de la planète », ajoute Michael Goldwax, responsable du portefeuille des Technologies de l’information.

Hampstead est fière de poser des gestes pour réduire de façon marquée son empreinte de carbone, en éliminant le plus possible l’utilisation du papier pour les communications et les documents du conseil. Cette nouvelle initiative s’inscrit dans un vaste plan d’ensemble visant à transformer les services de technologie de l’information de la Ville, dans le but de réduire son bilan carbone.

Hampstead’s local tax increases below inflation for fourth year in a row

I am pleased to announce that the local tax increase for single family home owners will be 1.9% in 2011. The Conference Board of Canada predicts that inflation will be 3.2% in 2011 so this is quite an achievement. For owners of duplexes and condos the local tax rate will actually be decreasing, as the valuations of these properties did not rise as much as those for single family homes.

This is the fourth year in a row that we have had local tax increases below inflation. The increases for the past 3 years have been 1.6%, 0% and 2% - all below inflation.

However, our tax bills have two components. We also pay for Agglomeration services. This charge is itemized separately on your tax bill. Last year Montreal raised Agglomeration taxes by a shocking 12.6% and this resulted in the average tax increase in Hampstead being about 6%. This year, Montreal was almost as irresponsible in allowing spending to increase by 7% in 2011. Hampstead’s Agglomeration tax rate for single family homes is only increasing by 4.3% due to the fact that Hampstead has no industrial or commercial properties. Overall, the single family home owner will see a total tax increase of 3.2% when the Agglomeration portion is included.

So how do we keep tax increases low while our accumulated surplus grows (now expected to be over $1.5 million by the end of 2010) and our debt service ratio remains one of the lowest on the island? There are many reasons. We have been very aggressive in seeking government grants for much needed infrastructure work. Over $1.7 million was obtained this year. In 2006, we were the only suburb to take an interest free loan from Quebec. This will save the town about $3.3 million over the life of the loan. Most importantly, we are improving the town in ways that increase its attractiveness to new residents. Being an attractive town encourages people to invest in rebuilding existing homes. Once rebuilt, these 'new' homes are taxed at a higher valuation thus decreasing the tax burden for the remaining single family homes. It is a virtuous circle and why our house valuations are climbing faster than those in Westmount and TMR. Finally, the management of the town, led by our Director General, Richard Sun, work very hard to provide top service at the lowest possible cost.

Dr. Bill Steinberg is the Mayor of the Town of Hampstead.

Republished from The NDG Free Press.

Hampstead to get one of lowest Agglo tax increases

Hampstead’s Agglomeration tax increase will be only 3.44%. This is lower than the increase for all suburbs other than Montreal West, TMR and the tiny summer community of Ile Dorval. It is also lower than the increase for Montreal and most of the Montreal boroughs.

The overall tax increase for Hampstead residents is a combination of the Agglomeration increase and the local tax increase. The local tax rate and overall increase will be announced at the Special Budget meeting Monday evening December 13. I am expecting good news. You can also check the online version of the NDG Free Press on December 14. I will have a column in the Hampstead section discussing the budget or you can check my blog where the column will be posted (www.billsteinberg.ca).