As you will notice in the Budget Proposal put forth to Council, LPRCA compares the 2013 Approved Budget to the newly proposed 2014 Budget. Council needs to see the Actual Expenditures not the budget for 2013 that they approved! This is especially important since the LPRCA went approximately 200,000 over budget last year. It seems that even previous budget proposals are put forth in this manner. By comparing estimation vs estimation Council never does get a true reading of the costs.
We've set aside that clandestine practice and have incorporated the true costs with information obtained by The Canada Revenue Agency. This should help Council to make an informed decision as opposed to voting on misguided information.
In the 2014 budget proposal, The Long Point Region Conservation Authority is asking Council to approve a total budget of $3,603,560. The largest portion of this cost comes from the price of Staff ($2,348,537) and an additional $63,251 in Staff Expenses. This represents a 33% increase from 2010 while expenses have soared by 259%. Purchased Services have also ballooned by 78%. In 2010 the price of purchased services was $455,653 and LPRCA is now expecting to outsource $812,247 in 2014. LPRCA employ's 21 full time employees.
Even with the sale of the 1000 acre Backus Woods, 10% of their forestry holdings, they still need an additional 27% increase to Manage Public Forests. This cost has never dropped even with the sale. We believe this is the typical, 'if it's in the budget, spend it' philosophy. So why was Backus Woods ever sold? We'll get to that later.
This expense is offset by Municipal Levies and the trough refill will require County's to pony up $1,076,330 for the Operating portion. A 19% increase from 2010 (28% if you include 2009). The Citizens of Norfolk will bear the brunt of this burden with 52.94% of the cost coming from them. Haldimand, Oxford and Brant will all see their portions fall this year. Bayham and Malahide will see a slight increase but their overall cost is pocket change anyway ($8,151 combined total). Oxford recovers a chunk of their fees from the property tax from the LPRCA head office.
Of note in the current budget proposal 2015 and 2016 will require large outlays of money for upgrading facilities. Over $300k each year compared to $130k in 2014. This also includes the new office furniture purchase of $50,650 to pamper staff further. How can they even work in their current condition? While Backus Mill rots, staff get's new furniture?
| Year | Budget | Actual | Difference | Reserves | Total Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | $3,160,713 | $3,346,632 | $185,919 | $96,631 | $282,550 |
| 2011 | $3,282,343 | $3,576,923 | $294,580 | $190,936 | $485,516 |
| 2012 | $3,496,295 | $3,687,895 | $191,600 | $190,501 | $382,101 |
The above table shows the Approved Budget numbers as compared to the Actual numbers. In 2014 the LPRCA expects to pull another $200k from reserves and with the current track record of losing $200k per year the total cost of maintaining them will total over $4,000,000. Remember the Backus Woods sale? The investment of the proceeds bring in another $90-120k per year. Without them selling OUR Woods their losses would be around half a million dollars per year.
Lucky for the Long Point Region Conservation Authority money does grow on trees. They are one of the largest resellers of timber in the entire region. Their timber sales are outlined below.
2009 $712,204
2010 $478,497
2011 $648,918
2012 $525,855
2013 $350,000 (estimated from LPRCA last month)
With The Ministry of Natural Resources clamping down on the LPRCA's tree slaughter and the Conservation Authority giving away their holdings to the Nature Conservancy of Canada, how long will they be able to depend on this revenue stream to prop them up? How long will it take for the LPRCA to burn through the money they received for the Backus Woods Sale? Maybe it's a good thing that the Nature Conservancy of Canada controls that cash and they only have access to the interest.
In their REAL Statement of Operations it shows the revenue from Community Relations has fallen 72%. Little wonder there. From what we've heard from the Citizen's who've contacted us it appears the relationship to the public could be compared to Dictator vs Peon's. The only thing the Long Point Conservation Authority is conserving is their high priced salaries and big fat pensions.
Most, if not all, Conservation Authorities in Ontario have a foundation setup so they can receive donations from the public which are in turn sent to their respective CA's. At one point there was a foundation named The Long Point Foundation for Conservation. They used to fund raise and then at the end of each year donate the funds raised to the LPRCA. The people listed here were on that Board. You will see familiar names. You will also see that their status is now 'REVOKED' for not filling their income tax return. The last filling is dated in 2006. The same year that Cliff Evanitski took over as GM/Treasurer at the LPRCA. 7 years later the proper paperwork has still not been submitted for some reason. If we were in Bayham we'd be worried that our Deputy Mayor can't do his tax return.
Why would the Conservation Authority want to fund raise? It's so much easier to put forth some estimated numbers to get what you want from the public teat and never be questioned.
In the last Council meeting it was brought to attention that the LPRCA has no idea if it makes money or not on the campgrounds. After reviewing all of the financial documents it's not hard to believe that. We've put together a package for Council to download so that they may understand better the Accounting Cookbook that the LPRCA passes off for real financial data. Be warned that it's impossible to accurately compare the budget and real data against one another. We feel the line items are intentionally misrepresented to keep people from actually knowing what is happening inside The Long Point Region Conservation Authority.
Again we ask, where is Norfolk County's high priced financial leader on these issues? The 8 million dollar Planning Department never received a second look while asking for more money and the LPRCA and it's 4 million dollar deficit doesn't either. At what point does Mr John Ford actually work for his $112,935.69 salary. Does he actually work over there? He's paid roughly $55 per hour but when does he start giving his expertise to Council so they can make informed decisions regarding financial matters? His salary alone is more than 4 people on Council! Earn your money. Why are we doing your work for you?
It's because we care, that's why. Show you care too by attending the 'Public' meeting at their head quarters this evening at 7pm. 4 Elm Street, Tillsonburg. How long can they get away with this? Will Council hold them accountable? They are as transparent as the Grinding Stone at Backus Mill or the rotten beams. Don't donate a dime to the Backus Mill Restoration Fund. Let them use Creativity to find the funds. We recommend No Raises this year due to incompetence and neglecting the Backus Mill.
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