PERIOD REPORT
DATE: April 29, 2016 Report No. FIN-16-007
TO: Laurie Hurst, Chief Administrative Officer
FROM: Ian Irvine, Director of Financial Services
SUBJECT:TITLE Financial Services and Information Technology Departments - 2016 First Period ReportBody
The following is a report on the activities pertaining to the Financial Services and IT Departments from January 1, 2016 to April 30, 2016.
I. DIVISION ACHIEVEMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
1. Budgeting, Financial Reporting and Accounting Operations
• Performed draft budget preparation during the period of January to March. Involved the compilation of departmental submissions, discussions with Senior Management and the formalization of staff recommendations to Council.
• Presented to Council draft 2016-2020 Financial Plan during March and subsequent tax rate scenarios in April. Based on direction received, created final bylaw documents for adoption in May.
• Completed year end reconciliation and analysis, working papers, and draft financial statements in preparation for the external financial audit which was completed during late March.
• Provided draft financial statements to auditors for review, testing and issuance of audit opinion.
• Coordinated and prepared for local grant process, including the review of applications, in anticipation of Local Grant Committee meeting in May.
• Updated existing Local Grant Policy and prepared new Policy on Community Events - In-Kind Support, to include the definition of established events and related criteria as well as the requirement for consistent reporting by all grant recipients.
• Discussions with Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) continue regarding a potential settlement of the 2014 PILT amount under appeal.
• Completed annual statutory reporting for Worksafe BC and the Municipal Pension Plan as well as the issuance of T4 slips for municipal employees.
2. Risk Management
• There are no new significant or unusual liability claims with the Municipal Insurance Association.
3. Information Technology
• Launched a new public website with an updated appearance and content management system. The new site is responsive across all platforms, including tablets and phones. It also includes Google translate integration to provide access in multiple languages.
• Updated the network storage systems, to provide faster backups and improve server performance. This has reduced the nightly backup and disaster replication times by 5 hours.
• Installed a new hardware VPN connection between the Fire department and EComm911. This simplified access to the EComm systems by reducing the number of steps needed to establish connections.
• Commenced the rollout of a new desktop environment that allows for centralized IT management and remote access capabilities for staff.
• Updated our antivirus software on all servers and computers.
• Replaced 20 aging desktop monitors purchased as part of the 2015 equipment replacement cycle.
• Made changes to routing to improve 911 telephone call response times.
• Installed a high speed internet connection for the Victoria Cougars hockey club. This allows them to stream High Definition broadcasts of their games held at the Archie Browning Sports Centre.
II. COMMITTEES
• The Local Grant Committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday, May 19 to review all local grant funding requests. The Committee will hear from representatives of all organizations that submitted an application prior to preparing their recommendations to Council.