|
1. REIMBURSEMENT PROCESS - ALTERNATIVE MODES OF TRANSPORTATION
PROCESSUS DE REMBOURSEMENT - AUTRES MOYENS DE TRANSPORT
|
That Council direct staff to develop a reimbursement process for the City that encourages the use of bicycle travel in keeping with City policies and strategies and with the goal of saving money, promoting physical activity and reducing emissions of air pollutants.
Recommandation MODIFIÉES du ComitÉ
Que le Conseil demande au personnel d’établir un processus de remboursement pour la Ville d’Ottawa visant à encourager l’utilisation du vélo dans nos déplacements, conformément aux politiques et aux stratégies de la Ville ainsi qu’aux objectifs d’économiser des fonds, de promouvoir l’activité physique et de réduire les émissions de polluants atmosphériques.
DOCUMENTATION
1. Committee Coordinator’s report dated 25 January 2011 (ACS2011-CMR-FED-0001).
2. Extract of Draft Minutes dated 1 March 2011.
Report to / Rapport au:
Finance and Economic Development Committee
Comité des finances et du développement économique
and Council / et au Conseil
25 January 2011 / le 25 janvier 2011
Submitted by / Soumis par: City Council / Conseil municipal
|
City Wide / À l'échelle de la Ville |
Ref N°: ACS2010-CMR-FED-0001 |
SUBJECT: REIMBURSEMENT PROCESS - ALTERNATIVE MODES OF TRANSPORTATION
OBJET: PROCESSUS DE REMBOURSEMENT - AUTRES MOYENS DE TRANSPORT
That the Finance and Economic Development Committee consider the following, as referred by Council at its meeting of 8 December 2010, and submit its recommendation(s) to Council:
THAT staff be directed to develop a reimbursement process that encourages the use of alternative modes of transportation
Que le Comité des finances et du développement économique examine ce qui suit, tel que le Conseil l’a déféré à sa réunion du 8 décembre 2010, et soumette sa(ses) recommandation(s) au Conseil municipal :
QU’on enjoigne le personnel d’élaborer un processus de remboursement qui favorise l’utilisation d’autres moyens de transport.
MOTION NO. 1/10
Moved by Councillor D. Chernushenko
Seconded by Councillor M. Fleury
THAT staff be directed to develop a reimbursement process that encourages the use of alternative modes of transportation.
MOTION NO. 1/11
Moved by Councillor R. Chiarelli
Seconded by Councillor E. El-Chantiry
THAT Motion No. 1/10 be referred to the Finance and Economic Development Committee for consideration.
REFERRAL CARRIED on a division of 21 YEAS and 3 NAYS as follows:
YEAS (21): Councillors S. Blais, M. McRae, M. Wilkinson, A. Hubley, B. Monette, R. Chiarelli S. Qadri, E. El-Chantiry, S. Desroches, K. Egli, R. Bloess, K. Hobbs, P. Hume, M. Taylor, T. Tierney, P. Clark, D. Thompson, S. Moffatt, D. Deans, D. Chernushenko and Mayor Watson.
NAYS (3): Councillors D. Holmes, J. Harder and M. Fleury.
As such, the Finance and Economic Development Committee is required to consider this matter and report back to Council with its recommendation(s) on same.
CONSULTATION
This item will be advertised in the local dailies as part of the Public Meeting Advertisement on Friday preceding the Committee meeting.
Human Resources Department
The City of Ottawa Mileage and Parking (Local Transportation ) Policy states the following:
“Employees are encouraged to consider the most effective mode of travel, appropriate use of time and resources, such as:
· Car pooling with colleagues
· Using polycoms and/or conference call
· Scheduling offsite meetings at the beginning/end of the day
· Using the most effective mode of travel where appropriate (i.e. walking, cycling, public transit).”
Mileage is reimbursed at the amount set out in the collective agreement provisions or terms and conditions of employment. Bus tickets are reimbursed at cost or where an employee has a monthly bus pass, based on 1/20th of the monthly pass for each eligible day. The City does not currently reimburse an employee when walking or cycling is used as a mode of travel.
City Clerk and Solicitor
Specifically with respect to the reimbursement of members of Advisory Committee, the Advisory Committee Expense Policy was established in March 2001 with the intent of ensuring that voting members of Advisory Committees were not out-of-pocket for providing their volunteer advice to City Council. In the case of cars, reimbursement is related to a gas cost; for bus customers, reimbursement is related to the cost of the fare.
In terms of alternate modes of transportation, the matter of reimbursement for cycling has been raised on various occasions as part of governance reviews or specific reviews of the Advisory Committee Expenses Policy. Reimbursement for cycling is not a standard practice.
In response to the comments raised during consultation with the City’s Advisory Committee’s during the Governance Review process, staff conducted a survey of regional and single tier municipalities in Ontario as to whether the municipality provided reimbursement for bicycle mileage. Nine responses were received and all nine municipalities (Kingston, Waterloo, York, Durham, Halton, Thunder Bay, Niagara, Peel and Toronto) advised that they do not provide mileage for cycling for members of Advisory Committees.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The City’s operating budget contains provisions to meet the existing obligations as set out in City policies and collective agreements. Changes to the existing Policy and/or collective agreements have not been contemplated in the 2011 Draft Operating Budget.
LEGAL / RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS
There are no obvious Legal and Risk Management implications associated with implementing a reimbursement process that encourages the use of alternate modes of transportation. However, any such process must adhere to the existing collective agreement provisions that provide for reimbursement for travel costs incurred on City business, which are applicable to unionized employees. Should the Committee and Council direct staff to adopt such a process, the Labour Relations Unit will review the possibility of including appropriate language for inclusion in collective agreements in anticipation of upcoming rounds of collective bargaining with the City’s unions.
RURAL IMPLICATIONS
N/A
Staff to implement Council’s decision.
REIMBURSEMENT PROCESS - ALTERNATIVE MODES OF TRANSPORTATION
PROCESSUS DE REMBOURSEMENT - AUTRES MOYENS DE TRANSPORT
(Referred from City Council meeting of 8 December 2010 / Reporté de la réunion du Conseil municipal du 8 décembre 2010)
ACS2011-CMR-FED-0001 city-wide / À l’Échelle de la ville
Mayor Watson believed Councillor McRae was prepared to move a motion on this item, however, as the original motion was Councillor Chernushenko’s he asked him to speak to it.
Councillor Chernushenko read the following motion into the record, which he confirmed that Councillor McRae would be moving:
That staff be directed to develop a reimbursement process for the City that encourages the use of bicycle travel in keeping with City policies and strategies and with the goal of saving money, promoting physical activity and reducing emissions of air pollutants.
In speaking to the motion, he submitted this was about consistency and about putting words into action. He referenced a host of City policies and strategies designed to shift people out of cars and onto transit, bicycles and other more active forms of transportation. At the same time, the City reimbursed staff and Advisory Committee members only if they travelled by car (for mileage and parking) or if they produced proof of payment for transit fares. He wondered why the City would not add cycling to these policies, noting that cyclists were incurring costs to purchase and to maintain bicycles. He added that there were now insurance issues with many bicycles. Therefore, he re-iterated that it was a matter of consistency. He referenced jurisdictions in the United Kingdom and in the United States where the costs associated with bicycle travel were recognized. He believed examples could be found in a number of cities in other parts of the world and he suggested that the fact it was not yet being done anywhere in Canada should not be an argument against taking some leadership on the issue. He maintained that the motion was asking staff to prepare a proposal to put a number to it. He believed it would ultimately lead to cost savings as such a policy might encourage people to shift from using cars to instead using a bicycle so instead of paying for mileage and parking for car use, the City would instead be paying a much lower mileage rate for cycling. He concluded by stating that this was symbolic, it was about consistency, and it was about encouraging people to make the shift from using cars to using bicycles.
Responding to questions from Councillor Wilkinson, Mayor Watson confirmed that because this matter had been referred to the Finance and Economic Development Committee by Council, the proposed motion would have to rise to Council. He noted that the motion did not speak to a timeframe for staff to report back and he submitted this could be worked out afterwards, once the motion was approved.
Following these exchanges, Committee voted on the motion.
Moved by Councillor M. McRae
That staff be directed to develop a reimbursement process for the City that encourages the use of bicycle travel in keeping with City policies and strategies and with the goal of saving money, promoting physical activity and reducing emissions of air pollutants.
CARRIED, as amended
YEAS (5): P. Clark, K. Egli, A. Hubley, M. McRae, M. Wilkinson
NAYS (4): R. Chiarelli, P. Hume, M. Taylor, Mayor Watson