Vital little plan: finances (1) relating to Dufferin Grove

HISTORY EXCERPT: 2005 report, Dufferin Grove Finances file "Where the Money goes"

In 2004, the City spent about $81,000 to staff the park. This did not cover the costs.

In 2005, the City spent $181,440 (counting benefits) for between 6 and 14 part-time recreation staff, depending on the season, covering the park (a.k.a. “community centre without walls”) for seven days a week during the busy times, less at other times.

Because the park was so busy, there was also quite a bit of money that came directly from park users, mostly from food: $147,739.17. We treated the money that came in as a pooling of neighborhood resources, and used it to augment programs, buy supplies, fix broken things, for additional contracts, and for website work. We kept every receipt for what was spent. Our neighborhood experiment, in other words, cost $329,000, of which only 55% came from taxes.

In a neighbourhood where most house prices begin at $1 million, Dufferin Grove Park food is now significantly subsidized. Not a viable “business plan” over the long term!

park food no longer pays for itself

The 2016 graph at the right shows that in the last year (2010) of the full staff/CELOS partnership, after the groceries to make all the park food were paid for, there was $95,300 left over to pay the cooks (report from the CELOS Quickbooks accounting system). The next year city management centralized food purchasing and took over the food-related programs. The city auditor had warned that the more centralized food purchasing is, the more it costs. And indeed, the groceries cost went way up. In 2015 the groceries/food supplies for Dufferin Grove cost almost as much as the income from food sales, and in 2016 the supplies actually cost more than the income from selling the food. In 2017, the park program income was even less.

Cost comparisons

Notes from 2017 financial documentation.

The City of Toronto uses SAP software for its municipal accounting. The 2017 SAP spreadsheet for Ward 18 PFR is here.

Housekeeping

Rink clubhouse maintenance and repair costs, 2012 - 2017. Carried out by the Facilities and Real Estate Division (FRED).

Park maintenance and repair by Tech Services, 2012 to 2017. Incomplete response from FOI -- follow-up request sent.

Follow-up questions that need answering (PFR doesn't tell, so we need to go through FOI)

- How much for the new stairs and the access ramp at the south light?
- How much for the Quonset hut?
- How much for the bigger sheds?
- Playground inspections? Soccer field inspections (who?)
- How much for the soccer field winter covering and fencing?
- How much for public health inspections? Who bills who?
- How much for rink cooling machinery maintenance and replacement?

Finances (2) citywide Parks and Rec spending

Elastic Budgets

Wikipedia document (Henrik Bechmann) on City of Toronto capital vs operating.

Funder requirements inflate reporting costs -- creating unnecessary extra costs for groups trying to improve public space.

Back to workbook

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