The jobs are there, the budget money is there, where are the workers?
There are over 2,500 City jobs still unfilled halfway through the 2013 budget cycle. Local 79 President, Tim Maguire, asked why at the Service Level Review.
Dear Councillor Milczyn and Members of the Planning and Growth Management Committee:
RE: PG26.1 – 2014 Service Level Review
The staffing levels in the City are not adequate to meet the current service levels or increased service levels in 2014. That’s a fact. The Budget Committee on September 2nd identified 2,542 vacancies across all the City Divisions as of June 2013. Over 2500 jobs are still unfilled halfway through the 2013 budget cycle. The Budget Committee directed “that the City Manager report to the October 2, 2013 meeting of the Budget Committee on actions taken and planned actions for ensuring that staff vacancies do not go unfilled for long periods”.
Filling vacant positions was a priority for City Council when the 2013 Budget was adopted earlier this year. What happened? The jobs are there, the budget money to fill the positions is in place, where are the workers?
The Government Management Committee earlier this week added to the Budget Committee’s request for action, asking “the City Manager to report to the Government Management Committee on the impact that the delays in filling staff positions have had on the Divisions reporting to the Government Management Committee”.
After the last budget cycle City Council specifically noted that City Planning was critically understaffed. It’s all very well and good to celebrate the City’s building boom but very short-sighted not to have the people in place to support the construction and growth.
During the 2012 Budget process the staff levels at City planning were 352.5 approved positions with the projected actual positions being 306.5, leaving 46 positions unfilled. Understaffing in Human Resources is not a good excuse for leaving so many vacancies. The workload at City Planning is ever-growing, staffing levels must grow too.
The same is true at Toronto Building. The staffing levels in 2012 were budgeted at 426 positions, but the actual projected year-end number of positions was 368, leaving 58 positions unfilled. Toronto Building is swamped with applications for permits, complaints to be investigated, inspections and reviews. It is also
important to note that one of the revenue sources leading to the 2013 Budget surplus was the Third Party Sign Tax. Toronto Building, through its Sign By-law Unit, is responsible for the administration and annual collection of the Third Party Sign Tax (TPST).
Service Level Review for Toronto Building notes in the Issues, Challenges and Opportunities section that staff resources should be aligned with workload. That sounds like a good idea: the City should start by filling the large number of vacancies.
Yours truly,
Tim Maguire, President