M E M O R A N D U M

TO:= &nb= sp; Mayor Frank Scarpitti and Members of Council

John W. Livey, Chief Administrative Officer

&nb= sp; = Commiss= ioners

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FROM: Fuwing Wong, Manager of Financial Planning

DATE: &= nbsp; January 15, 2007

SUBJECT:<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:1'> 2007 = Budget Kick-off

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Budget Sub-Committee meetings to develop the Town’s 2007 Budget will commence January 22^nd. Other meetings are outlined in the January 15^th General Committee repo= rt on the proposed 2007 Budget Sub-Committee Schedule.

The focus of the Budget Sub-Committees will be on the three major components of the Town’s Budget, e.g. Capital, Operating and Waterworks. In addition, there are several imp= ortant updates and discussions planned for the 2007 Budget Sub-Committee meetings, including:

an economic/environme= ntal scan to communicate budgetary pressures faced by the Town;<= /span>
an update of the Rese= rve Study;
discussion on the Town’s Revenue Strategy;
discussion on options= to restructure the Capital Budget to separate capital assets from other i= tems that can be considered operating budget;
the impact of legisla= tion related to Building Permit Revenues (Bill 124) and the Development Fee By-law on the Town’s budgets; and
an update on the Muni= cipal Funding Agreement (“Gas Tax” Revenue)

At the first Budget Sub-Committee meeting, on January 22^nd, staff will present an economic/environmental scan, an update on the proposed operating budget, and an overview of major projects included in the capital binder.

Detailed review of capital projects, on an exception basis, is scheduled to commence= at the second Budget Sub-Committee meeting in February (proposed date of the meeting is February 5^th). To ensure all Councillors have sufficient time to review the propose= d capital budget, the attached Capital Binder is being distributed at the January 15<= sup>th General Committee meeting.

The binder contains the following:

A summary, by Commiss= ion & Department, of all preliminary 2007 Capital projects;=
Detailed Capital Fund= ing Request forms supporting each project listed on the Summary (sorted by Department & project number); and
A summary of Projects Requiring Further Discussion (last tab in the binder).

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The summary, by Commission & Department, is located in the first tab of the binder.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Each project listed on the summary= has a unique 4-digit project number, a project description, followed by the total cost of the project and the sources of funding.

The Capital Funding Request forms, submitted by Departments, are included in the binder as support for the projects shown on the Summary. The requisition forms are placed in their corresponding department tab by ascending project number order. The project numbers on the Capital Funding Request forms are located on the top right hand corner of the form.=

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A summary of capital projects, currently not in the budget, requiring further discuss= ion is located in the last tab of the binder.&= nbsp;

Councillor Requests for Enhanced/New Programs should be forwarded to the Finance Department by Friday, February 2^nd for incorporation into the 20= 07 Budget discussions at future Budget Sub-Committee Meetings.

Further, any queries on Capital projects may be e-mailed to Fuwing Wong, Manager of Financial Planning, to be brought forward at future Budget Sub-Committee meetings on capital. Commissioners/Directors will also = be available to answer your questions at the meetings.

Fuwing Wong

Manager,= Financial Planning

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