Minutes

For the Finance and Administration Committee Meeting

Tuesday, April 22, 2025

6:00 P.m. - 10:00 P.m.

Tom Davies Square

Present (Mayor and Councillors)

• Councillor Signoretti, 
• Councillor Benoit, 
• Councillor Brabant, 
• Councillor Fortin, 
• Councillor Parent, 
• Councillor Lapierre, 
• Councillor Labbee, 
• Councillor Sizer, 
• Councillor McIntosh, 
• Councillor Cormier, 
• Councillor Leduc, 
• Councillor Landry-Altmann, 
• and Mayor Lefebvre 

City Officials

• Shari Lichterman, Chief Administrative Officer, 
• Kevin Fowke, General Manager of Corporate Services, 
• Joe Rocca, Interim General Manager of Growth and Infrastructure, 
• Joseph Nicholls, General Manager of Community Safety, 
• Brendan Adair, Interim General Manager of Community Development, 
• Liisa Lenz, Director of Finance/Chief Financial Officer , 
• Terra Posadowski, Director of Communication and Community Engagement, 
• Meredith Armstrong, Manager of Tourism and Culture, 
• Kris Longston, Director of Planning Services, 
• Maria Saari, Manager of Compensation and Benefits, 
• Kyla Bell, Manager of Revenue Services, 
• Ron Foster, Auditor General, 
• Ed Landry, Senior Planner, 
• Dawn Noel de Tilly, Chief of Staff, 
• Brigitte Sobush, Manager of Clerk's Services/Deputy City Clerk, 
• Regina Sgueglia, Clerk's Services Assistant, 
• and Cassandra Pierobon, Clerk's Services Assistant 

Councillor McIntosh, In the Chair

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1.

Call to Order

The meeting commenced at 4:00 p.m.

2.

Roll Call

A roll call was conducted prior to the commencement of moving into closed session.

3.

Closed Session

• The following resolution was presented:

  FA2025-09
  Moved By Councillor McIntosh
  Seconded By Councillor Cormier

  THAT the City of Greater Sudbury moves to Closed Session to deal with one Information Supplied in Confidence (Competitive Position/Negotiations) item regarding MBNCanada and one Labour Relations or Employee Negotiations item regarding non-union staff in accordance with the Municipal Act, 2001, par. 239(2)(d) and (i).

  CARRIED

  At 4:01 p.m., the Finance and Administration Committee moved into Closed Session.

  
  

4.

Recess

At 5:06 p.m., the Finance and Administration Committee recessed.

5.

Open Session

At 6:00 p.m., the Finance and Administration Committee commenced the Open Session.

6.

Roll Call

A roll call was conducted.

7.

Declarations of Pecuniary Interest and the General Nature Thereof

None declared.

8.

Matters Arising from the Closed Session

Councillor Cormier, as Chair of the Closed Session, reported that the Committee met in Closed Session to deal with one Information Supplied in Confidence (Competitive Position/Negotiations) item regarding MBNCanada and one Labour Relations or Employee Negotiations item regarding non-union staff in accordance with the Municipal Act, 2001, par. 239(2)(d) and (i). No directions or recommendations emanated from the meeting.  

9.

Presentations

9.1

Water Wastewater Long Range Financial Plan

Jim Bruzzese, President of BMA, provided an electronic presentation regarding the City of Greater Sudbury's water wastewater long range financial plan. 

Rules of Procedure

Councillor Lapierre moved to defer Item 9.1 to the June 17, 2025 Finance and Administration Committee meeting for more information. 

CARRIED

10.

Managers' Reports

10.1

Non-Union Salary Administration Policy

• The following resolution was presented:

  FA2025-10
  Moved By Councillor McIntosh
  Seconded By Councillor Benoit

  THAT the City of Greater Sudbury approves the revised list of comparators for external salary benchmarking and the process for conducting the external market review for non-union salaries as outlined in the report entitled “Non-Union Salary Administration Policy” from the General Manager of Corporate Services, presented at the Finance and Administration Committee meeting on April 22, 2025.

  CARRIED

10.2

Strategic Core Areas Community Improvement Plan Review

• The following resolution was presented:

  FA2025-11
  Moved By Councillor McIntosh
  Seconded By Councillor Cormier

  THAT The City of Greater Sudbury directs staff to return by the end of June 2025, with a Public Hearing under the Planning Act for the proposed Greater Sudbury Community Improvement Plan, as outlined in the report entitled “Strategic Core Areas Community Improvement Plan Review” from the General Manager of Growth and Infrastructure, presented at the Finance and Administration Committee meeting on April 22, 2025.

• Rules of Procedure

  Councillor Leduc moved to amend the resolution.

  The following amendment was presented: 

  FA2025-11-A1
  Moved By Councillor Leduc
  Seconded By Councillor Landry-Altmann

  THAT the resolution be amended to include the following:

  “AND THAT the City of Greater Sudbury directs staff to include the following community improvement project areas as part of the proposed Greater Sudbury Community Improvement Plan:

  • Lands at the intersection of Bellevue and Bancroft designated as “Mixed-Use Commercial” in the City’s Official Plan
  • Second Avenue North, from Bancroft to The Kingsway, including lands within 100 metres on each side of the avenue

  AND THAT The City of Greater Sudbury directs staff to incorporate language in the proposed CIP programs, where appropriate, to further emphasize the need for housing for older adults.”

  DEFEATED

• The following main resolution was presented:

  FA2025-11
  Moved By Councillor McIntosh
  Seconded By Councillor Cormier

  THAT The City of Greater Sudbury directs staff to return by the end of June 2025, with a Public Hearing under the Planning Act for the proposed Greater Sudbury Community Improvement Plan, as outlined in the report entitled “Strategic Core Areas Community Improvement Plan Review” from the General Manager of Growth and Infrastructure, presented at the Finance and Administration Committee meeting on April 22, 2025.

  CARRIED

10.3

2025 Property Tax Policy

• The following resolution was presented:

  FA2025-12
  Moved By Councillor McIntosh
  Seconded By Councillor Signoretti

  THAT the City of Greater Sudbury approves property tax ratios as follows where the Residential class is set at 1.000000:

  New Multi-Residential 1.000000

  Multi-Residential 1.965000

  Commercial 1.912000

  Industrial 3.387738

  Large Industrial 3.932421

  Aggregate Extraction 2.809508

  Pipeline 2.179489

  Farm 0.200000

  Managed Forest 0.250000

  AND THAT the necessary Tax Ratio by-law and Tax Rate by-law be prepared.

  CARRIED

• The following resolution was presented:

  FA2025-13
  Moved By Councillor McIntosh
  Seconded By Councillor Benoit

  THAT the City of Greater Sudbury use capping and clawback tools as follows:

  1. Implement a 10% tax increase cap
  2. Implement a minimum annual increase of 10% of current value assessment level taxes for capped properties
  3. Move capped and clawed back properties within $500 of current value assessment taxes directly to Current Value Assessment taxes
  4. Eliminate industrial properties that were at Current Value Assessment in 2024 from the capping exercise
  5. Eliminate industrial properties that crossed between capping and clawback in 2025 from the capping exercise

      

  AND THAT the necessary by-law be prepared;

  AND THAT the following clawback percentage, as calculated by the Online Property Tax Analysis (OPTA) System, be adopted by the City of Greater Sudbury:

  Industrial10.0533%

  AND THAT the City of Greater Sudbury approves the recommendations as outlined in the report entitled “2025 Property Tax Policy”, from the General Manager of Corporate Services, presented at the Finance and Administration Committee Meeting on April 22, 2025.

  CARRIED

11.

Referred & Deferred Matters

11.1

Jack Nicholas Business and Innovation Subdivision Street ‘C’ Cost Sharing and Development Charge Credit Applications

• The following resolution was presented:

  FA2025-14
  Moved By Councillor McIntosh
  Seconded By Councillor Leduc

  THAT the City of Greater Sudbury approves the cost-sharing application by Kingsway Employment District Inc. for the construction of Street “C’ within the Jack Nicholas Business and Innovation Subdivision from Kingsway Boulevard to the north limit of the property and directs the General Manager of Growth and Infrastructure to negotiate and enter into a cost-sharing agreement as per the parameters outlined in the report entitled “Jack Nicholas Business and Innovation Subdivision Street ‘C’ Cost Sharing and Development Charge Credit Applications” dated March 18, 2025, from the General Manager of Growth and Infrastructure;

  AND THAT Council direct staff to fund the City’s share of costs up to $2,866,296 from the Capital Financing Reserve Fund – General.

  YEAS: (9)	Councillor Signoretti, Councillor Lapierre, Councillor Sizer, Councillor McIntosh, Councillor Cormier, Councillor Leduc, Councillor Landry-Altmann, Mayor Lefebvre, and Councillor Benoit
  NAYS: (4)	Councillor Parent, Councillor Fortin, Councillor Labbee, and Councillor Brabant

  CARRIED (9 to 4)

  A written recorded vote was held: 

  
  

• At 8:20 p.m., Committee recessed. 

  Councillor Leduc departed at 8:20 p.m.

  At 8:25 p.m., Committee reconvened. 

   

  The following resolution was presented:

  FA2025-15
  Moved By Councillor Leduc
  Seconded By Councillor Lapierre

  THAT the City of Greater Sudbury approves the development charge credit application by Kingsway Employment District Inc. for the construction of Street “C’ within the Jack Nicholas Business and Innovation Subdivision from Kingsway Boulevard to the north limit of the subdivision property and directs the General Manager of Corporate Services to negotiate and enter into a development charge credit agreement as per the parameters outlined in the report entitled “Jack Nicholas Business and Innovation Subdivision Street ‘C’ Cost Sharing and Development Charge Credit Applications” dated March 18, 2025, from the General Manager of Growth and Infrastructure.

  CARRIED

12.

Members' Motions

12.1

Request for Review of Policy on Development Cost Sharing

• Rules of Procedure

  Councillor Cormier requested that the following friendly amendment be considered: That no applications be accepted by the City, where applicants owe any amounts to the City, including but not limited to property tax arrears. 

  Councillor Labbée, as mover, agreed with the amendment.

  FA2025-16
  Moved By Councillor Labbee
  Seconded By Councillor Signoretti

  WHEREAS the Policy on Development Cost Sharing was adopted by City Council in July of 2016;

  AND WHEREAS the Policy indicates “that this document will be reviewed on a regular basis by the City and the Development Community to gauge its applicability and effectiveness”, but it has not been reviewed since its implementation in 2016;

  AND WHEREAS the policy does not contain eligibility criteria for developers applying for cost sharing agreements;

  AND WHEREAS new and existing developers in Greater Sudbury would benefit from the opportunity to engage on the policy; 

  THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Greater Sudbury directs that staff initiate a review of the Policy on Development Cost Sharing, in consultation with the Development Community, and present a report to Council by the end of the first quarter of 2026, including options to establish eligibility criteria for applicants, such as being in good standing with regard to all property taxes and all contractual obligations with the City of Greater Sudbury;

  AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the current policy be immediately amended to provide that no applications be accepted by the City, where applicants owe any amounts to the City, including but not limited to property tax arrears.

  CARRIED

13.

Correspondence for Information Only

13.1

Development Charges – July 2025 to June 2026

For information only. 

13.2

2024 Contract Award Report

For information only.

13.3

Service Performance Benchmarking

• The following resolution was presented:

  FA2025-17
  Moved By Councillor McIntosh
  Seconded By Councillor Parent

  THAT the City of Greater Sudbury withdraw from its memberships in MBNCanada and the World Council on City Data at the earliest possible opportunity in accordance with the terms of each organization’s agreement;
  
  AND THAT staff be directed to notify MBNCanada and WCCD of the City’s decision to discontinue membership and take any necessary steps to complete the withdrawal process. 

  CARRIED

14.

Addendum

No Addendum was presented.

15.

Civic Petitions 

No Petitions were submitted.

16.

Question Period

No Questions were asked.

17.

Adjournment

Councillor McIntosh moved to adjourn the meeting. Time: 8:56 p.m.