Ottawa City Hall Moves Toward Paperless Transactions

Ottawa, Ontario (AHN) - Ottawa City's Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee voted to use electronic gadgets instead of paper print-outs of council and committee meetings, moving the city closer to becoming paperless.

The motion was introduced by Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien upon the recommendation of the city's task force on e-government. The move is expected to save Ottawa at least $150,000 a year in printing cost alone for about 2.8 million pages of agenda.

The mayor said it will take at least two to three years before the city's coffers will feel the benefit of the cost-cutting by not printing meeting agendas.

The move is another attempt by Ottawa to go paperless, the first of which was to encourage residents to make taxes payments online. At least 60,000 of Ottawa's 250,000 property owners pay their property taxes via the Web, saving thousands of dollars in printing costs. Another 60,000 taxpayers pay property taxes directly to the bank.

Not printing of committee agendas will also reduce the city hall's unnecessary trash and make it easier for residents that participate in Ottawa's third annual fall clean-up campaign. The campaign runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

High school students taking part in the cleanup will have their work credited to their Community Involvement Program. The campaign is open to families, residents, schools, neighborhood associations and companies.