MPAC office closure surprised staff

by Neil Zacharjewicz
LITTLE CURRENT - No one was more surprised to learn about the closure 
of the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation office in Little 
Current than the employees themselves.
"The people of the office were not aware of the fact it was going to 
be closed. We thought it was going to be downsized," explained Cathy 
McDonald, a long-time employee of the Municipal Property Assessment 
Corporation (MPAC). The staff had good reason to believe the office 
would be downsized, as the corporation's website indicated, through 
the FUTURES Program, the initiative to restructure MPAC, that the 
office would be reduced from its present seven staff members down to 
three. However, on December 19, a manager from MPAC's Sudbury office 
paid the staff a visit to inform them that, as of March 31, 2003, the 
Little Current office would be permanently closed.
"That was the first we had heard about it," Ms. McDonald explained.
The employees were shocked about when the notice was given.
"Why could they not have waited until after the holidays?" Ms. 
McDonald questioned.
Presently, the staff are very uncertain as to what the future holds 
for them. According to Darryl Bender, accounts manager for MPAC, 
there will be an opportunity for some employees to transfer to the 
Sudbury office depending on two individual factors: their level of 
seniority and the position they hold within the corporation. He said 
exactly how many staff will be transferred has yet to be looked at, 
as first MPAC must determine the level of interest of staff members 
who qualify to move over to see if they are interested in making the 
move.
However, Ms. McDonald said this does little to alleviate any 
uncertainty. She said while she might be able to transfer to Sudbury 
and move into the same position, once the FUTURES Program is finally 
implemented, there is the potential she could be "bumped down" to a 
lesser paying job.
"We have a very big area to cover," she explained, pointing out the 
office in Little Current is responsible for the Island, Espanola, 
Sables - Spanish Rivers, and Killarney regions. She said once the 
office is closed, there is the potential for people to be working in 
the area who have no idea about the issues faced locally. She said 
while officials tire of hearing that Northern Ontario is different 
from Southern Ontario, it is truly different. Ms. McDonald said the 
employees already know of instances where errors were made because 
people were handling cases outside of their area. Under the new "area 
assessment" system, she suggested, the problems are likely to 
compound over time.
Ms. McDonald indicated the staff would like to, outside of work 
hours, approach the area municipalities and present their case.
"The municipalities do deserve to know what is going on," Ms. McDonald said.
Mr. Bender, however, disagreed with the notion that staff based out 
of Sudbury would not be able to service the area effectively. He said 
staff familiar with a particular area will be dedicated to work that 
area on a full-time basis.
"(These people) will have an understanding of the local conditions," 
Mr. Bender said.
Mary Nelder, reeve of Central Manitoulin Township, said she was 
surprised to learn about the closing of the office. She indicated one 
year ago her council met with representatives of MPAC, including Mike 
Petryna, councillor with the City of Greater Sudbury and a member of 
the MPAC Board of Directors.
"I had asked specifically if they had plans to close that office and 
they had said 'no,'" Ms. Nelder said. "They had said it was not part 
of their plans at all."
Mr. Bender said some of the reasons for the confusion as to the 
messages coming from MPAC is because they are related to two separate 
issues. He explained there was a great deal of concern over whether 
the Little Current office would be closed due to the restructuring of 
MPAC through the FUTURES Program. However, he indicated the FUTURES 
Program did not call for the closure of the Little Current office.
However, Mr. Bender pointed out for nearly 10 years now, which 
predates the introduction of the FUTURES Program, the Little Current 
office has been under review for potential closure. He said the 
timing of the decision to close the office coincides with the efforts 
of the FUTURES Program, but is not actually related to it.
"(The possibility of closing the office) has been under review for 
some time," he suggested.
Mr. Bender said the workload is just not there to maintain the 
office, and this is the result of a number of factors. He said a 
common situation faced by many MPAC offices across Ontario is that 
people are simply not building on new property like they did in the 
past. Furthermore, the business practices and procedures of MPAC have 
been changing over the years due to new technology. Where once the 
data was entered manually, today it is entered electronically. He 
pointed out no one calculates assessment manually any longer. 
Instead, they use computers.
Still, municipal leaders are not pleased with the news of the closure.
"We are not very happy," stated Hugh Moggy, Chair of the Manitoulin 
Municipal Association (MMA) and Reeve of Assiginack Township. "We 
won't have any local contact at all. I can't see how this is going to 
be any better."
However, Mr. Moggy said he believes the municipalities have very 
little say on the issue. He pointed out some time back, area 
municipalities supported resolutions raising concerns about the 
reorganization of MPAC. However, he said these concerns appear to 
have been ignored.
"If there is anything we can do, we certainly would try to do it," 
Mr. Moggy said. He added the MMA would be willing to meet with the 
staff members of the Little Current office if they wished to make a 
presentation.
"By all means, we would entertain them," he said.
"It is the loss of jobs in our community which is disheartening," 
stated Ken Ferguson, Mayor of the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and 
the Islands. He indicated representatives from his municipality are 
scheduled to meet MPAC officials next week. He said while he did not 
want to pre-empt their discussions, he does not want to see a loss of 
jobs or a lessening of services in the community. Mr. Ferguson said 
his council has heard from the staff in the past, and would be 
pleased to meet with them again to see if there is something 
meaningful which could be done to keep employment based in the 
community.
"I'm sure any of our municipalities on the Island would be willing to 
hear from them, particularly our municipality," Mr. Ferguson stated.

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