‘Frustrated’ DSSAB passes budget

The Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board passed its 2000 budget here last night amid frustration among members.
The budget was substantially lower than the 1999 one–a drop from $10 million a year ago to $7.56 million in 2000–but with all the provincial discrepancies and unknowns, the number is difficult to compare.
For instance, last year’s budget only covered 11 months and included some provincial numbers that aren’t available this year.
“It’s like comparing apples to oranges,” DSSAB chair Emily Watson said.
Item after item on the budget raised questions about the province’s disorganization in downloading services to municipalities.
“We’ve got to figure out a way to throw a grapefruit at Toronto. I think we have to demand it, I don’t think we can lobby it,” said Lee Molitor, who represents Rainy River West on the board.
“Toronto makes the rules, Toronto makes the regulations, and we have to pay the tab,” he added.
Child care costs were nearly 100 percent higher than last year although the province had guaranteed status quo costs. And needs testing funding was found to have been absorbed by child care in Fort Frances, leaving nothing for the district’s tests.
The Ontario Disability Support Program administration duties have been taken over in part by the DSSAB, but it is still paying for provincial administration for the program as well as its own administration costs.
And the province also requires the DSSAB have a provincially-funded employee transfer the board’s information to new software–the System Information Management System–only to have the information transferred again as soon as it’s completed to a third system called the Business Transformation Project.
Facing a provincial deadline of March 31, the board passed its budget with an estimate for the costs of the area’s social housing for the year as they wait for provincial numbers from December, 1999 to arrive.
Frustration and anger were expressed throughout the meeting.
“I have a hard time accepting a deadline from people and those people haven’t given us the information necessary,” charged Morley Reeve Gary Gamsby.
Municipalities have been waiting for the DSSAB to pass its budget in order to pass their own including the DSSAB levies.
But they won’t directly benefit from the lower levies due to the lower budget because the province provides funding based on the levy amount and will reduce their Local Service Re-alignment (LSR) funding accordingly
“They keep telling us we have to control our costs and watch our bottom line and they’re throwing their costs at us,” argued Molitor. “Our uncontrollable costs are going out of control.”