Appendix A - 2019 Year-End Operating Budget Variance

Description

Windsor Fire & Rescue Services has ended fiscal 2019 year-end with a deficit of ($87,219), as detailed below. Please note that 2019 budget increase differential is mainly due to a new labour agreement settled in June 2018 and reflected in the 2019 budget.

User Fee Revenue for Windsor Fire and Rescue Services: $27,786

The Fire & Rescue department has achieved a surplus of$27,786 in User Fee revenue mainly for Non-resident Motor Vehicle Accident fees and Corrective Action fees (Eg. Gas Line Strikes, Response to Unmaintained Equipment).

Miscellaneous Expenses: $23,273

The Fire & Rescue department has achieved a surplus of $23,273 in the SCBA Equipment maintenance account and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) cleaning account. SCBA equipment is only 3 years old (10 year life cycle) and minimal maintenance was required. The PPE cleaning contract was renewed and some savings were realized.

Recovery of Expenses: $7,257

The Fire Apparatus department has achieved a surplus of $7,257 in recovery of expenses for warranty work done in-house and Windsor/Detroit Tunnel pumpout services during the tunnel maintenance activities.

Net Salary Variance: ($145,535)

A deficit of ($145,535) was incurred in the net salary accounts for the Windsor Fire and Rescue division. The variance consists of Fire Operations department overtime deficit in the amount of ($205,000). The department is experiencing increased number of long term absences creating a greater number of vacancies. Short term over complement staffing level helps mitigate this variance. The Emergency Communications division incurred an overtime deficit of ($86,000) due to longer training requirements of new staff. The remaining overtime deficit of ($31,500) is due to heavy workloads among various remaining divisions. Finally, a surplus of $176,965 was achieved within the salary gapping budget and WSIB accounts, which is a reflection of vacancies projected causing overtime mainly within the Fire Operations division. It should be noted that within this surplus lies a deficit of ($18,731) from Retro Compression pay paid out from the new WPFFA labour agreement approved in June 2018. There are provisional funds in corporate accounts related to Corporate Salary & Wage to offset this variance.

Mitigating Steps

The Fire and Rescue Services division will continue to mitigate overtime variances through the attendance management process and take reasonable steps to reduce or eliminate other expense variances, while maintaining approved service levels.