Peggy Revell
FORT FRANCES—Looking to curb the ever-expanding budget of the Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board, municipal reps approved a motion last Thursday to proceed with a complete operations and efficiency review of the board.
“This all started right back when we first started doing the budget and we talked about cutting jobs, cutting this, cutting that,” Morley Reeve Moe Henry said during last Thursday night’s meeting.
“My point was that there were some of us who had no idea what people’s jobs were, what they did, what they didn’t do, or anything like that,” Reeve Henry noted, referring to the hesitation various reps expressed during the 2011-12 budget process over simply making cuts—and the ensuing discussion from that to hire an outside firm to look at the board’s efficiency and operations.
“It won’t only include the employees, it will also include the operations of the board because I think the board has to have a review—the whole [organization],” he stressed.
There also is the possibility of looking to the province to fund the operational efficiency review given money saved also will benefit the province.
The board approved the motion put forward by Reeve Henry that will see it seek proposals from an outside consultant “to review the entire operations of the [Rainy River] DSSAB and bring forward recommendations to increase the efficiencies of the entire organization,” as well as petition various ministries to fund this review.
In other business at last Thursday’s meeting, concerns were raised over the vote held at the special board meeting held March 25 to amend the DSSAB’s 2011-12 budget.
In the initial budget approved earlier in March, $11,350 in materials for social housing accidentally had been removed as alterations were made to the budget in the hours leading up to it being passed.
A special meeting then was held to reinstate this amount into the budget. But following Roberts Rules of Order, as laid out by DSSAB chair and La Vallee Reeve Ross Donaldson, a two-thirds majority was not achieved to make the amendment.
“[For] Robert’s Rules of Order, the number-one thing is that the majority should speak,” said Chapple Coun. Rick Neilson, who was concerned over the notification prior to the meeting and the interpretation of Robert’s Rules.
“And that process sidestepped the normal voice that we have,” he argued.
While having the option to bring forward a motion at Thursday’s meeting to amend the budget at the next meeting, this also would have required DSSAB to either delay sending out the billing schedule to municipalities, or approve the billing schedule and then amend it at the next meeting—and then re-send it out to the municipalities.
Instead, the board opted to pass the municipal billing schedule at Thursday’s meeting while directing staff to find cost-savings where possible so they can proceed with the projects.
Also at last week’s meeting, Fort Frances Coun. Ken Perry reiterated his concerns over the numbers DSSAB has been giving municipalities when it comes to uploading costs of the Ontario Drug Benefit plan.
As he has at past meetings, Coun. Perry disagreed with the given numbers, stating the apportionment formula had not been properly applied to the uploading savings.
He felt all municipalities should have received more back—and the difference should be made up by the province.
“We’ve spent the uploading dollars as a board, and there’s all there is to it—we’ve done it,” stressed Lake of the Woods Reeve Val Pizey.
Reeve Pizey, who had voted against the budget along with Coun. Perry, also noted that at this point, the municipalities aren’t going to realize benefits of uploading savings until the board “get[s] a grip” on DSSAB’s own budget, which the efficiency review will help accomplish.
(Fort Frances Times)
