HomeMy WebLinkAboutCS 14/01
--
REPORT TO COUNCIL
FROM:
Gillis A. Paterson
Director, Corporate Services & Treasurer
DATE: MayS, 2001
REPORT NUMBER: CS 14-01
SUBJECT: Extension of 2000 Financial Information Retum/Municipal Performance
Measurement Program Filing Deadline
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that Report CS 14-01 of the Director, Corporate Services & Treasurer be
received by Council for information.
ORIGIN:
Director, Corporate Services & Treasurer
-
AUTHORITY:
Municipal Act, R.S.O. 1990, as amended
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Not applicable
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Not applicable
BACKGROUND:
Each year the Financial Statements and Financial Information Return for the immediately
preceding year must be completed and audited to allow the City to file the Financial Information
Return with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs by Apri130.
-
In previous years the filing deadline for the Financial Information Return to the Ministry has
been met, albeit sometimes requiring a great deal of extra effort and overtime.
The production of the Financial Statements and the Financial Information Return for the year
ended December 31, 2000 was especially challenging as we were faced with implementing two
new Provincial reporting requirements:
Report to Council CS 14-01
Date: May 8, 2000
-
Subject: Extension of2000 Financial Information RetumlMunicipal Performance
Measurement Program Filing Deadline
Page 2
1. the recommendation of the Public Sector Accounting and Auditing Board ofthe Canadian
Institute of Chartered Accountants whereby new financial reporting standards, mainly
involving unfunded liabilities, have to be implemented for the 2000 Financial Statements;
and,
2. the implementation of the Provincially imposed Municipal Performance Measurement
Program in the Financial Information Return which also incorporates the changes under
Item 1 above.
While the former item was less problematic for Pickering, primarily due to the nature of the
City's functions. The Performance Measurement component is more of a problem, primarily as a
result of the absence of definitions and clarification from the Province which affected all
municipalities in Ontario. We were concerned enough regarding our ability to meet with April
30 deadline that on April 12, 2001 I wrote the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, copy attached,
advising them of our situation. I was also aware that a number of other municipalities in Ontario
were in a similar situation.
On April 20, 2001 the Assistant Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs wrote all municipal
Treasurers and Auditors in Ontario advising that the deadline was being extended to June 30,
2001, copy attached. He also indicated that the previously announced deadline of June 30, 2001
for reporting Performance Measurements to the public was being delayed, with details to follow.
-
Of particular concern will be the footnotes to accompany the Performance Measurement
Reporting - both in magnitude and complexity. All of the foregoing problems have previously
been discussed with senior staff of the Ministry.
Staff will continue to work on the reporting requirements and will provide the results and any
updates to this information as it becomes available.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Letter to Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housingdated April 12, 2001
2. Letter from Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing dated April. 20, 2001
Prepared / Approved / Endorsed By:
~~-~~
Gillis A. Paterson,
Director, Corporate Services & Treasurer
GP:vw
Attachments
-
Recommended for the consideration of Pickering
City Council
Thomas J. uinn, Chief Administrative Officer
ATTACHMENT;q: ,~"~ TO REPORT # CS l'f-ol
Pickering Civic Complex
One The Esplanade
Pickering, Ontario
Canada
Ll V 6K7
Direct Access (905) 420-4660
cityofpickering.com
ClUj o~
CORPORATE SERVICES DEPARTMENT
Department (905) 420-4634
Facsimile (905) 420-5313
corpserv@city.pickering.on.ca
April 12,2001
Ms. Nancy Bardecki, Director
Municipal Finance Branch
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
777 Bay Street, 13th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 2E5
Dear Ms. Bardecki:
.~
This is to advise that the Financial Statements and the Financial Information Return for the
Year Ended December 31,2000 for the City of Pickering are currently anticipated to be
filed by May 31,2001. While we have met the April 30 deadline in the past years we find
that this year will be delayed due to a combination of competing demands upon staff time.
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you wish to discuss any aspect of this matter.
Yours truly,
'-~? --C~'>~
G.A. Paterson,
Director, Corporate Services & Treasurer
GAP/vw
Copy: TJ. Quinn, Chief Administrative Officer
-
ATTACHMENT #"~ TO REPORT#~ 'f~ Of
Ministry of
Municipal Affairs
and Housing
Ministere des
Affaires munlclpales
et du Logement
@ Ontario
Municipal Treasurers and Municipal Auditors:
Policy Division
13th Floor, 777 Bay Street
~eceDVe. 0 Toronto, ON M5G 2E5
Y OF PICKER/N' Tel: (416) 585-6320
AP.R ..2 3 II ~F' (41.6) 585-6463
COI:l. 2001 ~ @
I'ORArE SERVICES lip/? '/f!1J!b ~lJ).'
C/?y 2 .:f ~ <<;;rJ
P/~.,o1:' A '{){Jl f
€'1y'NQ ~1f12 '",j
. 'IV'I''''''Y1//IJG
April 20, 2001
-
As you are aware, the Financial Information Retum (FIR) has been updated for the year
2000. This year has been one of great transition and, as one could expect, there have
been some difficulties with the new eFIR Application.
In order to support the technological transition of the FIR being completed online, the
Ministry has decided to extend the 2000 FIR deadline to June 30, 2001. This will allow
municipalities more time to adapt to the new eFIR Application.
Since the schedules required for the new Municipal Performance Measurement
Program (MPMP) form part of the 2000 FIR, this deadline of June 30, 2001 will also
apply to the submission of data for the MPMP. The requirement to report to the
Minister for MPMP is to be amended accordingly, Municipal reporting of the results of
the MPMP to the public will therefore also be delayed. The Ministry will follow with
further details shortly.
The MPMP Schedules will be live on the eFIR website as of April 25, 2001. Please
keep in mind that portions of the eFIR must be completed prior to using the MPMP
Schedules in order to ensure that carry forward values within these schedules appear.
The eFIR is a Web-based application which requires dealing with the complexities of a
number of inter-related variables, including; operating systems, internet browsers, dial
up through telephone lines, network connections, and multiple versions of software.
The integration of these different technology environments are the root cause of many
of the problems experienced to date and have made the implementation of the eFIR
more difficult than a standard software developed project.
-
The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has recognized these issues and is
working to resolve them An Oracle software patch has recently been installed to
correct a security problem involving Port 3002 and external experts from Oracle are
currently being consulted to examine problems with connectIvity. One of the
deliverables from the Oracle consultant will be a "Trouble Shooting" guideline for those
u3ero that are ~till unable to connect. A new e-mail address h~s been added to the
-
-2-
eFIR. homepage which is to be used to report problems with connectivity. In addition,
the eFIR homepage has been enhanced to improve readability for those using
Netscape as their browser. Please continue to check the Technical Bulletin and Hours
of Availability on the eFIR website for the most current information.
Another letter will be sent shortly addressing PSAB issues that have been raised.
If you have any questions. please contact Debbie Chen-Yin at (416) 585-6299.
Yours truly,
~ / ~v~/{}/'l'LoA"'---1.-"1---''"
/ et Mason
/ sistant Deputy Minister
cc; C.AO's
-
-