PERIOD REPORT
DATE: January 8, 2019 Report No. FIN-19-001
TO: Laurie Hurst, Chief Administrative Officer
FROM: Ian Irvine, Director of Financial Services
SUBJECT:TITLE Financial Services and IT Department - 2018 Third Period Report
Body
The following is a report on the activities pertaining to the Financial Services and IT Department from September 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018.
I. DIVISION ACHIEVEMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
1. Budgeting, Financial Reporting and Accounting
• In preparation for the 2019-2023 Financial Plan, initial capital and operating budget information is being compiled by each department. Once all submissions are received, they will be consolidated for Council’s review during March 2019.
• The year end requirements, reconciliations and analyses are being completed in preparation for the annual financial statement audit scheduled for March 2019. Interim audit work by the Township’s auditors was completed during late November.
• A variance analysis of budget versus actual revenues and expenditures was completed in October with no unexplained significant variances or anomalies noted.
2. Property Taxes
• Outstanding property tax notices were mailed in November and as of December 31, approximately 95% of the total property tax levy was collected. This represented almost 98% of the total tax folios within the Township.
• The total 2018 payment received from Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) for Property in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) was for $21,926 less than our application amount. Discussions are ongoing with BC Assessment and PWGSC to determine the rationale for the reduced payment and whether an appeal will be necessary.
• All delinquent property taxes were collected in advance of the September deadline and, as a result, no tax sale was required.
3. Risk Management
• There are no significant or unusual liability claims against the Township.
4. Information Technology
• Coordinated a network penetration test that was performed by a third party organization to determine identify any security concerns. This involved the security testing of the network and internal email phishing attempts for the purpose of identifying and assessing potential vulnerabilities requiring remediation.
• Completed the de-commission of the former E-COMM Dispatch Network now that the transition has been fully made to the dispatch operation on the mainland.
• Closed a total of 350 internal staff support calls during the period. This figure is higher than previous periods and was achieved with reduced staff levels as a result of vacation and other leave.
• Continued the migration of the existing servers to new infrastructure. Completion of this project will result in a more robust and easy to use environment to support all Township systems.
II. COMMITTEES
• The Local Grant Committee met in September to review 2019 Permissive Tax Exemption applications. Recommendations from the Committee were reviewed and approved by Council and the bylaw was adopted in October.