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Councillor's move for more open budget process defeated

The motion died on the floor with no discussion allowed on the item
2018-05-07 Timmins City Hall MH
Timmins City Hall. Maija Hoggett/TimminsToday

A councillor's attempt to make the city budget process more transparent was defeated before it made it to the floor for discussion.

Tuesday's Timmins council agenda included a resolution about the budget from Coun. Joe Campbell about the city's budget process.

While the motion at this week's meeting was defeated, Campbell has asked to be placed on the agenda for the next meeting under reports, which would allow for discussion.

Campbell's resolution stated that council can only do its due diligence "by having all financial information available for public consumption."

It called for a number of things, including that all budgets that are given funding from the tax levy are presented "individually, in detail, at an open and transparent public meeting by the various department heads or their designates." It also asked for departments to clarify what part of its budget is from the tax levy and what's from other income sources, and include the total number of full-time, part-time and seasonal employees are in each department's presentation. 

There was tension between Campbell and Mayor George Pirie when the resolution was read. 

Because there was no seconder for the motion, the mayor didn't allow Campbell to talk about it and the motion died on the floor.

When a member of council believes the proper procedures aren't being applied, they can call for a point of order. For the City of Timmins, the mayor is the chair and rules on points of order.

When Campbell asked for a point order on the budget item, Pirie repeated that there's no seconder "and there’s no discussion."

Campbell's full request can be found here near the bottom of the agenda under motions of council.