YEAR-OVER-YEAR BUDGET CHANGES
Explanation of Changes: Revenue
Total revenues are expected to decrease by $0.4 million due to an anticipated reduction in Sustainability Grants from an external source.
Explanation of Changes: Expenses
Total expenditures are expected to increase by $0.4 million, due to inflationary increases in salary and utility costs offset by anticipated savings in various programs. As an example, in Street Maintenance where there are anticipated savings in program costs through savings in materials, recycled concrete and asphalt material, optimization of staff work in the field, and fleet efficiency gains. In addition to the anticipated program savings, the Sustainability Division’s spending has been reduced to match the reduction in grants from an external source.
The Engineering Public Works budget contains retroactive wage increases related to collective agreements concluded in 2013.
NOTABLE CAPITAL PROJECTS
The following table summarizes some of the noteworthy projects that Engineering Public Works is involved in or will commence in 2014. A complete list of all capital projects for 2014 is included in the appendices to the Council Report.
Powell Street Overpass
To be completed in 2014, this project provides a new overpass for the north-south rail line that crosses Powell Street, as well as realignment of Powell Street to allow an extra east-west rail line for the port. The primary goals of this are to keep the Port Metro Vancouver economically competitive, and better ensure safety for transit, bikes, and vehicles. The City will contribute almost $4 million of this $50 million project; 92% of funding comes from partnerships with Transport Canada, Port Metro Vancouver, Canadian Pacific, and TransLink.
Burrard Street Bridge
To be completed in 2014, this project includes PCB remediation and cleanup of the old bearing boxes, replacement of expansion joints, and opportunistic seismic upgrades to portions of the bridge. In addition, concrete repairs will be performed under the bridge deck in selected areas.
Burrard/Cornwall Intersection Normalization
This project will be completed in 2014 and includes funding to complete the construction to normalize the Burrard and Cornwall intersection.
City Roads Paving
This provides for the rehabilitation of the City's arterial streets where major capital restoration work is required to maintain the integrity of the street asset and extend the service life. 2014 funding is expected to provide for the rehabilitation of approximately 11.5 km of arterial pavements.
BUDGET TREND TABLE
The following table summarizes the year-to-year budget figures from 2010 to 2013 and the 2014 proposed budget. The following paragraphs discuss the year-to-year changes in more detail.
*Note to Financials:
Parking Meter and Enforcement Revenues are reported with Corporate Revenues Cost Recoveries reduction in 2013 relates to Sustainability Division
EMPLOYEE TREND TABLES
DEPARTMENT SERVICE METRICS
Transportation and Planning
Transportation metrics regarding transportation mode split provides valuable information to assist the City to reach the future goals around usage and green initiatives. The City began to capture the information through surveys to improve upon TransLink's information, which is provided every five years. The results of the surveys will be available in the beginning of 2014. The City plans to extend the cycling routes and greenways around the Point Grey and Kitsilano areas, further enhancing the AAA category (all ages and abilities) in the total cycling network.
Safety is a priority for Engineering Services and plans and accomplishments are focused on improving and reinforcing the safety of our citizens. While monitoring the increase in walking, cycling, and use of transit, the City actively tracks the number of traffic collisions and fatalities.
Parking
Parking metrics inform the number of metered spaces and parking permits issued each year. The numbers have been increasing since 2008 and are expected to stabilize and remain fairly static in the coming years. Parking regulations are established to support traffic flow, for safety and to support the needs of residents and businesses. Monitoring parking compliance helps identify parking enforcement needs from year to year.
The gross number of parking tickets issued has decreased from 2009 levels because motorists are complying with the parking regulations more often—due to better photographic evidence and the adjudication system. An uptake in new methods of payment and non-coin payment may also be contributing factors to this increase in levels of compliance. In 2014, Parking Enforcement will establish better metrics for compliance and adjust work plans accordingly. The percentage of tickets paid or collected by all means continues to increase as a result of bylaw adjudication and photo evidence.
Street Infrastructure and Maintenance
Metrics for pavement condition were not captured in the past, but current metrics will assist with future planning and reporting. The amount of road paved (in square metres) shows a reduction from 2009, reflecting a peak prior to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The 2014 plan is to utilize road condition information to
optimize the lifecycle return on dollars invested.
Street Activities
Metrics around the number of permits to use City streets provides information for planning and managing the different events or street uses, street cleaning, and overall garbage collection. Special events including “free to attend” events, which are typically neighbourhood events, remain steady year after year.
Street Cleaning Service
Metrics for Street Cleaning include frequency of pickup, tonnes being collected, and number of 3-1-1 calls received for litter problems and abandoned waste. This information is valuable in maintaining and improving our service levels. The frequency of litter bins emptied in Downtown increased from two to three times per day in 2012 and was maintained through 2013. In addition, in order to improve litter management and address areas of concern additional containers were deployed in the downtown core in 2013. The work of 3-1-1 to respond to citizens has enabled better tracking on abandoned garbage and debris pickup requests. Council continues to approve annual grants to social enterprise organizations that have the capacity to provide micro-cleaning services. Micro-micro-cleaning involves daily collection of litter, including cigarette butts, needles, and other accumulated debris, on foot using brooms, shovels, rakes, and wheeled carts, which is of significant benefit to business improvement areas.
There has been an increase in the number of street cleaning-related calls to 3-1-1 over the past several years.
Increased familiarity with 3-1-1 on the part of the public has had an effect on the overall call volume, but the increase in street cleaning related calls is greater than would be expected through increased 3-1-1 use alone.
The overall increase in calls is occurring as a result of increases in abandoned waste such as mattresses that have been banned from disposal and have a recycling fee assigned. Another factor is street cleaning-related calls have increased as a transitory effect of implementing a bi-weekly garbage collection schedule and there is an increase in the dumping of household waste in waste bins located in City parks.
Corporate Equipment Management Service
Fleet size had a significant decrease after the 2010 Olympics, and we therefore expect a modest reduction each year thereafter as we right size the fleet and look for opportunities to work smarter and optimize our equipment needs.
The average age of fleet is expected to decrease in the coming years as a significant number of fleet units are due for replacement. Replacement decisions have focused on creating a fleet that will keep emission levels low to support reaching the 2020 GHG goals. Over the past few years the % reduction of GHG emissions has been over 13%, and the goal is to continue this trend to achieve 30% reduction in GHGs from 2007 to 2020. The City has also increased the number of units fueled from alternate fuel sources: this reduces fuel costs, GHGs and particulate emissions.