Scarborough? There Is No Scarborough. It Is City Of TORONTO!

Would you trust this group of Miller lackeys with the keys to a candy store?

Surprise, city finds $373,000

Councillor uncovers pile of taxpayers' cash and sets to spend it as he sees fit, until council hits the brakes

Scarborough Coun. Glenn De Baeremaeker said he felt like he'd won the lottery.

After six years of pestering city staff about whether there was money in an account his residents said was supposed to be used in the late '80s to build a day care, the money was found.

Surprise, the city just stumbled upon $373,000 for Scarborough Centre's kids.

The money turned up in an account opened 21 years ago.

So De Baeremaeker, feeling pretty darn good about himself, showed up at Scarborough Community Council this week with a plan to use the cash-ola for kids in his area. A splash pad, some monkey bars. What could go wrong?

"I thought my fellow councillors would pat me on the back and congratulate me for finding taxpayers money that went unused for 21 years," he said.

And that's when the sandbox fight began.

"Then I felt like I won the lottery and all my unemployed relatives showed up asking for their share," De Baeremaeker said.

Coun. Brian Ashton congratulated De Baeremaeker for his hard work, but said wait just a minute at being called an unemployed relative.

"Why does he think it's his money?" Ashton said. "It's taxpayers' money."

Ashton said De Baeremaeker showed up at Tuesday's meeting with his own report on the money as a walk-on item, complete with where he would spend it. There was no staff report.

"If we're going to spend it, let's put it to the highest priority," Ashton said.

"With allies of Miller it's almost like the wild west when it comes to fiscal management."

The money is what's called a Section 37 contribution. Tridel, the developer of a condominium project on Town Centre Court next to the Scarborough YMCA, wanted more height and density for its buildings.

The city agreed to the change in exchange for a contribution to its Section 37 fund to improve the community -- to be used to build day care centres.

The old city of Scarborough spent $252,000 to build the Squirrel's Nest Child Care Centre, but not all the cash got spent.

With interest, that leftover is $373,000 now, 21 years later.

"It was just forgotten," De Baeremaeker said.

Ashton said if the money isn't going to build a day care, as originally destined, it should be used in other ways to help offset the strain of increased density.

Coun. Michael Thompson said the day care the money originally built is in his ward, so he wanted some of the money for day care improvements in his ward.

Now the whole issue has been sent off for staff to examine.

NEVER LOST

It should be noted the money was never lost. With amalgamation, all the individual Section 37 accounts in Scarborough went into one large pot, that totalled $50 million. But no one remembered or knew this chunk had been specifically from this project. With new councillors and new city staff, plus amalgamation, the old money sat unused.

"Some of those kids who should have been playing on monkey bars now have kids who could play on the equipment," De Baeremaeker said.

"I want children to benefit," he said, adding with a laugh that he absolutely will not use the money for a bust of himself at the Scarborough civic centre.

Maybe we should check back in 21 years, just to be sure.