HomeMy WebLinkAboutLGS-007-24Staff Report
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Report To: General Government Committee
Date of Meeting: March 4, 2024 Report Number: LGS-007-24
Submitted By:
Reviewed By:
Authored by:
File Number:
Report Subject:
Rob Maciver, Deputy CAO/Solicitor, Legislative Services
Mary-Anne Dempster, CAO Resolution#: GG-030-24
June Gallagher, Municipal Clerk
By-law Number:
Printing Services for External Organizations
Recommendations:
1.That Report LGS-007-24, and any related delegations or communication items, be
received;
2.That the Council Policy for Printing Services for Non-Profit Organizations, arising out
of Report CLD-005-01, be repealed;
3.That the CAO be responsible for establishing a Management Directive for printing
services for external organizations; and
4.That all interested parties listed in Report LGS-007-24, and any delegations, be
advised of Council’s decision.
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Report LGS-007-24
Report Overview
This report provides background, review, and recommendations on Clarington’s policy to
provide printing services to external organizations.
1. Background
1.1 Clarington’s current policy on non-profit printing services was approved by Council in
September, 2001, arising out of Report CLD-005-01. It arose out of a request from the
Durham Region Police Service for the Municipality to provide complimentary
photocopying for non-profit organizations. It is based on the premise that volunteer
organizations are providing a service to the community, and this service supports their
efforts.
1.2 The current policy to provide complimentary printing services for non-profit
organizations based on the following criteria:
2500 sheets/year - white paper
2000 sheets/year - coloured paper
over the yearly limit:
o $5.00/100 sheets white paper
o $6.00/100 sheets coloured paper
stapling, folding, cutting also provided
no advertising to be included
1.3 Over the years, Staff have encountered difficulties with aspects of the policy (in
particular, the “no advertising” provision), and since the policy was created 21 years
ago, it was time for a review.
1.4 This review also aligns with sections of the Strategic Plan to support the community and
local organizations.
2. Use by Organizations
2.1 Staff have kept statistics on the use of the program since 2015.
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Report LGS-007-24
2.2 The following is a list of some of the organizations that have used the service (typically
for posters, flyers, programs, draw prize ballots, surveys, minutes, agendas, donation
sheets) since 2015:
Orono Santa Claus Parade Committee
Kendal Community Centre
Clarington Board of Trade
Orono Fair
Home Base Autism Durham
Bowmanville Horticultural Society
Newtonville Hall Board
Orono Fiddle Competition
Orono Community Collective
A Gift of Art
Bowmanville Allotment Garden
Bowmanville Rotary Club
Tyrone Community Centre
Orono BIA
Durham Hospice Clarington
Al Ikram Foundation
2.3 The following is a summary, by year, of the use of the program:
Year Requests Unique
Org.
Min. #
of
Pages
Max.
# of
Pages
Average
# Pages
Total #
Pages1
Cost
Per
Year2
2015 2 2 25 30 27 55 $4.17
2016 14 6 20 2100 255 3580 $271.36
2017 12 5 50 1000 236 2840 $215.27
2018 2 2 200 240 240 200 $15.16
2019 9 6 40 800 267 2410 $182.68
2020 6 4 30 400 178 1070 $81.11
2021 3 3 100 2000 750 2250 $170.55
2022 15 4 12 2500 391 5863 $444.42
2023 65 9 1 1000 107 6952 $526.96
TOTAL $1,911.68
1NOTE: # of Pages means “number of impressions”, i.e. double-sided counts as
two pages.
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Report LGS-007-24
2NOTE: This cost uses the cost for colour printing of $0.0135/page for white
letter-sized paper and $0.0623 for the photocopier portion for a total of $0.0758
for a coloured copy. This cost is exclusive of Staff time and rental of the
photocopier (which Clarington pays for regardless of use).
3. Other Municipalities
3.1 Staff have contacted the other Durham Region Municipalities regarding their policy. All
other Durham Region Municipalities do not have a similar policy, except for Pickering,
which has a policy (within their internal/external printing policy) which has been in effect
since 2011, with the same limits as the Municipality of Clarington, but defining the
organization as “a group of citizens that are recognized as serving the community
including clubs, neighbourhood associations, sports associations, etc.”
4. Review
Change from Council Policy to Management Directive
4.1 In accordance with the Clarington Policy System (CP-001), the current printing services
policy does not meet the definition of a Council Policy:
The subject matter/issue affects the members of Council in their role as
elected officials;
The subject matter/issue has significant material financial implications;
There are significant aspects of Risk Management and/or public
accountability;
The subject matter relates to governance issues not specifically addressed
through the procedural by-law; or
It is legislatively required.
4.2 Therefore, Staff are recommending that the Council Policy be repealed , and the matter
move to a Management Directive as it is more operational in nature. Attachment 1 is the
proposed Management Directive to be approved by the CAO.
Restriction regarding advertising
4.3 Staff regularly have to enforce the policy and refuse a request from an organization
because the document has advertising. For instance, as part of their fundraising, they
may have secured a sponsor in exchange for the sponsor’s logo or business card being
included on the flyer – in which case we would have to reject the request.
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4.4 Staff believe that this is not in keeping with the spirit of supporting the small local
volunteer organizations and, therefore, are recommending that this restriction be lifted in
the proposed management directive and that the management directive include a
restriction on material that we wouldn’t print (i.e. that is contrary to the Criminal Code,
etc.) as well as ensuring that the printing will only be for activities that benefit the
community.
Non-Profit Organizations versus Community Groups
4.5 Although the intent of the current policy is to support local community organizations that
would otherwise have to pay for photocopying services, the current policy does not limit
the organization to “local”. In fact, it does not define “non-profit organizations”.
4.6 Staff are recommending that the Management Directive include a definition to limit the
services to Clarington based volunteer community groups.
Paying for Printing Services Above the Limits
4.7 The current policy includes a nominal payment ($0.05/black and $0.06/colour) for copies
“above the limits” but it does not cover our basic costs.
4.8 A local office supply store charges $0.75 per side for a letter size document.
4.9 The User Fee By-law contains a fee for photocopying, for the public, of $0.65/page with
a $3.00 minimum.
4.10 The Clarington Public Library Museums and Archives (CPLMA) charges the following
for self-service copying, with a minimum payment of $1 and maximum of $20:
Page Size Black & White Colour
Letter (8 ½” x 11”) $0.15 per side $0.35 per side
Legal (8 ½” x 14”) $0.15 per side $0.35 per side
Ledger/Tabloid (11” x 17”) $0.20 per side $1.00 per side
4.11 Staff are recommending a cost equal to the CPLMA be added, as a new item, to the
User Fee By-law during the next annual review, for printing services above the limits.
These fees would still be well below private printing costs, and below our fees in the
User Fee By-law.
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Report LGS-007-24
Coloured Paper
4.12 The current policy makes a distinction between white and coloured paper. This was
developed during a time when coloured paper was a novelty and thought to draw
attention, often at the expense of making things more difficult to read, from an
accessibility perspective. In 2016, when the Municipality was transitioning to electronic
agendas, we moved away from the use of coloured paper internally and have only
limited quantities on hand that will be used and not kept on a regular basis. The majority
of requests from organizations are for white paper.
4.13 Staff are recommending that coloured paper only be used if it is available (which will
allow staff to use up existing supplies but does not commit us to particular colours or
buying coloured paper in the future) and that paper only be offered in the three standard
sizes for white (letter, legal, ledger).
5. Financial Considerations
Based on the above usage, the financial impact is minimal (approximately $500) even if
the Staff time is included and is deemed as support for local community organizations.
Although it is expected that the usage would go up now that the restriction on
advertising is removed.
6. Strategic Plan
The recommendations in this report conform to the following priorities in Clarington’s
Strategic Plan:
L.1.3: Empower staff to identify opportunities to improve efficiency and
effectiveness.
L.3.2: Identify, establish and report on service levels of interest to the
community.
C.3.2: Reduce barriers to municipal programs, services and infrastructure.
C.4.1: Promote and support local arts, culture, and heritage sectors.
7. Concurrence
This report has been reviewed by the Deputy CAO, Finance and Technology/Treasurer
who concurs with the recommendations.
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8. Conclusion
It is respectfully recommended that Council endorse Staff’s recommendation to repeal
the previous policy and delegate this operational matter to the CAO as a Management
Directive.
Staff Contact: June Gallagher, Municipal Clerk, jgallagher@clarington.net
Attachments:
Management Directive – Printing Services for External Organizations
Interested Parties:
All organizations who have used the printing service since 2015
All community organizations within the Clarington Community Connections
(approximately 256 community organizations)
All Clarington hall boards, advisory boards and committees
Management Directive
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Page 1 of 4
Number: MD-00#??
Title: Printing Services for External Organizations
Type: Community Relations
Sub-type: Print/Mailroom
Owner: Legislative Services
Clerk’s Division
Approved By: CAO
Approval Date: Click or tap to enter a date.
Effective Date: Click or tap to enter a date.
Revised Date: Click or tap to enter a date.
Applicable to: All Departments and Staff
1.Legislative or Administrative Authority:
1.1. The CAO has the authority to approve Management Directives related to
operational activities. In particular, arising out of Report LGS-007-24, Council
directed the CAO to establish a policy for printing services for external
organizations.
2.Purpose:
2.1. To provide information, set parameters, and establish processes and
responsibilities to provide printing services for external organizations.
3.Scope:
3.1. The scope of this document is to be informational to Staff and applies to the
organizations defined in the Management Directive.
4.Definitions:
4.1. "Community Organization” means a group, governed by volunteers, which has a
primary mandate to provide recreational, art, cultural, social, and/or sport programs
and services that meet Clarington community needs where the
membership/participation is open to Clarington residents, which does not have the
resources to do printing. This includes clubs, neighbourhood associations, cultural
organizations, hall boards, sports associations, etc.
Attachment 1 to Report LGS-007-24
Management Directive
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Coordinator at 905-623-3379 ext. 2131.
Page 2 of 4
5. Directive Requirements:
Eligible Organizations
5.1. Clarington “community organizations” are entitled to complimentary printing
services within the established process and limits.
Limits
5.2. Eligible organizations have the following limits:
• 2500 sheets/calendar year – within the paper specifications indicated in the
“Documents” section of “Eligible Requests”.
• over 2500 sheets/calendar year – pay in accordance with Clarington’s User Fee
By-law.
Eligible Requests
5.3. Documents:
• Must be electronic and must be in “print ready” condition (i.e. no manipulation
required).
• Must conform to the Use of Corporate Resources for Election Purposes Policy.
• Must benefit residents of Clarington or support a Clarington community event.
• Must not contain content contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada.
• May contain sponsorship logos and business cards, but the document cannot
have, as its main purpose, to advertise for commercial purposes.
5.4. Requests that fall within the following specifications are eligible:
• Paper Size = Letter (8 1/2” x 11”), Legal (8 ½” x 14”), and Ledger (11” x 17”)
• Folds = ½, Z, C, or double for 14” paper
• Paper Type = White, or available colours, of copy paper
• Extras =single-sided, double-sided, booklet, stapled, cutting, collated.
• Ink = black or colour
5.5. Large print jobs involving detailed specifications, which cannot be handled by the
Printshop, or print jobs that can be produced more efficiently (time wise or
financial) may not be accepted.
Management Directive
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Coordinator at 905-623-3379 ext. 2131.
Page 3 of 4
Submitting a Request
5.6. All print requests must be submitted, electronically, using the form/portal specified
by the Printshop/Mailroom – contacted via clerks@clarington.net.
5.7. Requests for 1,000 pages or less shall allow a minimum of five full working days for
the print job to be completed.
5.8. Requests for more than 1,000 pages shall allow a minimum of ten working days for
the print job to be completed.
5.9. A request does not guarantee that we are able to print the request. All requests are
subject to Staff review to confirm that the request can be fulfilled, within two
business days.
Fulfilling a Request
5.10. Requests will be forwarded to the Print/Mailroom Clerk for processing.
5.11. The Print/Mailroom Clerk shall track each of the requests, by organization, and
notify the organization if they exceed the yearly limit.
5.12. Requesters will be notified, via email, of the completion of their request and
directed to the Clerks customer service desks for pickup during regular business
hours.
6. Roles and Responsibilities:
6.1. Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) is responsible for:
6.1.1. Ensuring that this Management Directive is updated for changes in corporate need,
community requirements, and good governance, as required.
6.2. Directors / Managers are responsible for the following within their scope of
authority:
6.2.1. Reviewing this policy and ensuring that appropriate staff are made aware of this
policy.
Management Directive
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Coordinator at 905-623-3379 ext. 2131.
Page 4 of 4
6.3. Print/Mail room Staff and their delegates are responsible for:
6.3.1. Familiarizing themselves with this document and asking for clarification if any
information is not understood, from their manager/supervisor.
6.3.2. Communicating the details of this document to community groups where
appropriate.
6.3.3. Providing the printing services as outlined in this document.
7. Related Documents:
7.1. Use of Corporate Resources for Election Purposes Policy
8. Inquiries:
8.1. Clerk’s Division at clerks@clarington.net specifically either the Municipal Clerk or
Deputy Clerk.
9. Revision History:
Date Description of Changes Approved By