Shortly after Rob Ford’s landslide October victory, the mayor-elect’s transition team asked city staff to explain how the city defines “core services.”

The group also asked for reports on the costs and benefits of half a dozen programs ushered in under David Miller. Many on the list — which the Star obtained through a freedom of information request — have already been singled out for cuts or reductions, calling into question the future of the rest.

On the campaign trail, Ford promised to deliver a balanced budget with lower taxes and no major service cuts. Ford’s opponents warned he would go after environmental and cultural programs to make the numbers work.

But, come January, Ford offered up a more-or-less status quo 2011 budget, balanced using $706 million in one-time windfalls inherited from the Miller years.

The deep cuts will come in 2012, Councillor Doug Ford, vice-chair of the budget committee, warned earlier this week.

What those might be is still a mystery, but records obtained by the Star show Ford and his transition team took an interest in the city’s urban forest plan and its community grants program. Both operate at a cost of about $40 million each.

The records don’t specify whether Ford plans to cut either, but other items that the transition team was looking into — rebates for water-efficient toilets and washers; a program that helps residents disconnect downspouts from the overloaded sewer system; and the vehicle registration tax — have already been targeted.

The budget committee voted to cancel the water-saving incentives and kill the downspout program. The vehicle tax was eliminated at council’s first working meeting.

In 2009, council voted to double the number of trees in the city over the next eight years, increasing the shade canopy from 17 percent to 34 percent by 2050.

In November 2010, the city’s parks department was asked to explain the benefits of the Urban Forest Asset Management Plan.

“I’d be devastated if we stopped investing in the urban forest. We’ve lost a lot of ground over the last two decades and we’re just making it up,” said Gord Perks, an environmental activist before he became a councillor. “Trees keep the city cool. Trees help remove toxins in the air from cars. Trees protect our children from ultraviolet rays. Most importantly, trees make our city a beautiful place to live.”

So far, the urban forestry program has been pruned by an across-the-board 5 per cent cut. Staff had asked for a slight increase.

Ford’s transition team also asked for a briefing on the Community Partnership and Investment Program (CPIP), which distributes about $47 million in grants. HIV/AIDS outreach, the Royal Winter Fair, student nutrition programs and TIFF are among the groups that have received funding.

It’s a program Doug Ford has expressed concerns about. Funding for it was flatlined in the proposed 2011 budget, which goes to a council vote next month.

Councillor Shelley Carroll, unofficial leader of Ford’s opposition, said cutting CPIP doesn’t make financial sense. “This is alternative service delivery. In other words: contracting out to community agencies. ‘Here, we’ll pay you to operate this service which, if staff did it, would cost hundreds and hundreds of millions to do.’ This is saving the city money,” Carroll said.

“The optics are that it’s not just about cost. They seem to be looking at things based on who proposed the idea rather than whether it is working for people.”

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Records show the Ford team was given a PowerPoint presentation about the city’s customer-service strategy, which admitted “the current political climate implies we need to do better.”

Staff also put together a presentation on how the city identifies “core” services. It included a flow chart asking questions such as: Is it government mandated? Is there another organization that could provide this service?

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