City of Guelph 2022 Consolidated Financial Statements and External Audit Findings Report, dated June 14, 2023, be approved.

3:37consolidated financial statements.

3:40We're gonna have a couple of presentations from staff

3:43and from KPMG as well.

3:48And so welcome, thank you.

3:51I'll turn it right over to you, Shana, and thank you very much.

3:56Thank you.

3:57Good afternoon, Mayor Guthrie, members of council

4:00and members of the public tuning into this meeting this evening.

4:04Thank you for the opportunity to present information

4:06from the 2022 consolidated financial statements to you today.

4:10You may be thinking,

4:11didn't we already hear about the 2022 year end back in May?

4:15Yes, you did.

4:17And this can be considered year end part two.

4:20We have endeavored to present complimentary

4:22rather than repetitive information to you today

4:25about the 2022 financial results.

4:28Before we begin, I would like to thank Michael Loggerquist,

4:31our senior corporate analyst financial reporting

4:33for his hard work to coordinate all of the information

4:37required for the city's audit from our colleagues across the city.

4:40The preparation of the financial statements

4:42and the supporting documentation from an organization

4:45as large and complex as the city

4:48requires a lot of communication and collaboration.

4:52And so thank you for that.

4:54The municipal act requires the city to engage independent auditors

4:58to express an opinion as to whether the financial statements

5:01fairly present the city's financial results for the year.

5:05You heard from Matt Bedeck back in January

5:07when he presented KPMG's audit plan for this year.

5:11And you will hear from him again today

5:13about the results of their audit.

5:15But first, I will provide a bit of context and information for council.

5:23The consolidated financial statements are located

5:25in your agenda package within the treasurer's report at Attachment One.

5:30The consolidated financial statements are prepared by city staff

5:33and in accordance with public sector accounting standards,

5:36which we refer to as PSAS.

5:39And they those standards are set by the public sector accounting board of CPEI Canada.

5:45The public sector accounting standards use full accrual accounting

5:48and will provide a bit more of a look into how that differs

5:51from the operating and capital budget reports that you received back in May

5:55later on in the presentation.

5:57The statements provide a full picture of the city

5:59and its consolidated entities financial results for 2022

6:03with comparative information for 2021.

6:09Along with the city's 2022 financials,

6:12the financials for the Guelph Police Services Board, Guelph Public Library Board,

6:16Guelph Junction Railway, Guelph Municipal Holdings, Inc.

6:20The Elliott Community, Downtown Guelph Business Association

6:23and Wellington Dufferin Guelph Public Health are all consolidated into these statements.

6:28With this being the first year and for our new members of council,

6:31we'll provide a bit of a background about why each of these entities is consolidated

6:35and the method of consolidation.

6:38Overall, these entities are consolidated because the city is assessed as having

6:42control or shared control in the case of public health

6:46over that entity under public sector accounting standards.

6:50The assessment of control may not always be straightforward

6:53and the specific circumstances for each entity were evaluated

6:56to determine whether control exists.

6:59Control is defined under PSAS as the power to govern the financial

7:03and operating policies of another organization with expected benefits

7:08or the risk of loss to the government from the other organization's activities.

7:12Control may exist by virtue of legislative authority,

7:16the power to pass bylaws pertaining to the other organization

7:20direct ownership, the authority to appoint board members,

7:23financial dependence or approval of funding envelopes

7:26or a combination of these factors, among other reasons.

7:31The Guelph Police Service and Guelph Public Library are both fully consolidated

7:35into the city's financial statements as local boards of the city.

7:39Each of these organizations has their own board of directors

7:43that governs their operations with appointments to these boards made by council

7:48and representatives from council on each of the boards.

7:51The police service and library each have a supplementary schedule

7:54dedicated to their specific service in the city's consolidated statements.

7:59Those are schedules five and six.

8:01The Elliott community also has its own board of trustees appointed by council.

8:07The Elliott is financially dependent on the city's contribution

8:09to its long term care operations, and the financial statements

8:13are fully consolidated into the city's statements.

8:16The downtown Guelph Business Association is a business improvement area

8:20as designated under the municipal act and council approves the budget

8:23for the organization.

8:25The DGBA's financial statements are fully consolidated in the city's statements.

8:30Wellington Dufferin Guelph Public Health is accounted for as a partnership under PSAS

8:35and its financial statements are proportionately consolidated

8:38based on the percentage of the municipal contribution

8:41that the city pays to public health.

8:43This means that the city's statements include forty six point three percent

8:47of the assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses of public health.

8:52For all of the entities that I've just reviewed,

8:54all intercompany balances are eliminated upon consolidation.

8:59So you don't see balances like the city's loans receivable from the Elliott or WDGPH

9:04on the consolidated statement of financial position.

9:07And you don't see the transfer payments made to any of these

9:10organizations by the city included in the statement of operations.

9:14The Guelph Junction Railway and Guelph Municipal Holdings Inc.

9:18are wholly owned subsidiaries of the city and they're consolidated into the city's

9:22statements using the modified equity method.

9:24This means that the shareholders equity of each organization is recorded

9:28as an asset on the city's balance sheet and the increase or decrease

9:32in shareholders equity each year, combined with any dividends paid by these two

9:36companies to the city represent the income from government business

9:40enterprises that's reported on the city's statements.

9:44Intercompany balances are not eliminated with that consolidation method.

9:48The city also has relationships with other local organizations,

9:52including the Grand River Conservation Authority and the County of Wellington

9:55Social Services. However, these relationships have not been assessed

9:59as meeting the threshold of control and therefore they are not consolidated.

10:04And the transactions in the consolidated statements related to those entities

10:08are external transfers included in the city's expenses.

10:16At May's Committee of the Whole meeting, you received three year end related

10:19reports, the 2022 long term financial statement on reserves and debt,

10:24the 2022 year end capital budget monitoring report and the 2022 year end

10:29operating budget monitoring report. A presentation was provided at that time

10:34to bring the information that you saw in those reports together into a more

10:37complete picture of the city's financial health.

10:40On this slide, we want to explain that the information that you got in May

10:44is the same information presented differently in the audited financial statements.

10:49So preparing the audited financial statements starts with the same

10:52accounting data that underlies the May reports, but the budget variance

10:56reporting that you received in May, or those reports are presented on a

11:00modified cash basis, focusing on budget versus actual results with operating

11:05capital presented separately. The format and presentation of that reporting

11:10is geared toward calculating the appropriate amount of taxes and rates.

11:14The consolidated financial statements are prepared on a full accrual basis

11:18and bring operating and capital together to provide one complete picture

11:22of the city's financial position and results of operations in accordance with

11:26PCES. A full accrual basis means, for example,

11:31that capital assets are capitalized and amortized.

11:34Debt principal payments are recorded as a reduction of the liability.

11:39Future liabilities are based on actuarial valuations of the present value

11:43of future cash flows. We often get questions about the ending surplus

11:47position being different in these two versions of the reporting,

11:51but that is just a factor of the purpose and objective of the reporting.

11:59So moving on to now to some key financial indicators that we calculate

12:03from the consolidated financial statements. There are three categories

12:07of financial indicators in our long term financial framework,

12:11sustainability, vulnerability and flexibility.

12:14Sustainability is the ability to maintain services over an extended period

12:18of time, providing continuous service at the expected level to all intended

12:23customers. Vulnerability is the level of resiliency within the organization

12:28to mitigate unexpected negative factors while maintaining financial

12:32and service commitments. And flexibility is the ability of the

12:35organization to adapt to a changing environment to both capitalize on

12:39opportunities and avoid threats. We track several key measures associated

12:44with each of these financial indicators and will highlight a few of them

12:47under the sustainability and vulnerability categories on the next

12:51couple of slides. We are not presenting the flexibility indicators today,

12:56as those indicators focus on reserves and debt, and that reporting was already

13:00covered as part of the presentation to the Committee of the Whole.

13:05As a reminder, though, the debt-related ratios are meeting target.

13:09However, our reserve ratios have started to decline, most notably in the area

13:13of capital reserve funds and tax-supported contingency reserves.

13:21So first, I'll explain the system of arrows and circles.

13:25If an arrow is red, it means the change from 2021 to 2022 was negative.

13:30If it's green, it means it was positive.

13:33And if the comparison with target circle is green, it means that the status

13:36of the indicator is good. If it's yellow, it's a warning, and we need to keep

13:40an eye on this. And if it's red, it means that we need to ensure there's a

13:45plan in place to correct. So the ratio of cash and investments to reserve

13:50and reserve funds slightly decreased to 1.2 to 1 in 2022 versus the 2021

13:57ratio of 1.21 to 1, so very close. The metric still exceeds the minimum

14:02target of 1 to 1. In 2022, the consolidated net financial assets increased by

14:0911.6 million, which is aligned with the stated goal of saving to fund future

14:13capital requirements. While this metric has continued to grow in 2022, it has

14:18grown at the slowest rate over the past five years, and there are many factors

14:23that can contribute to the slowing of that growth. But some of the key

14:26contributors are increased spending as part of the execution of the 2022

14:30capital program, as well as inflationary pressures on spending. As backlogged

14:35capital projects continue to be completed, the city's net financial

14:39position will decrease as funds are spent and therefore shift from

14:43financial assets like cash and investments into tangible capital assets.

14:48And the asset consumption ratio gives us some insight into how old the assets

14:52are. The increase from 2021 to 2022 tells us that our assets are more used

14:58up at the end of 2022 than they were at the end of 2021, even factoring in

15:03higher 2022 capital investment. In 2022, based on current rates of asset

15:09amortization, the city would have had to spend 109.2 million on net

15:14tangible capital asset acquisitions. So that's net of asset disposals compared

15:20to the 80 million actually realized for 2022. We are making progress, though.

15:25The 2022 net tangible capital asset acquisitions of 80 million was $26

15:30million higher than the 2021 net acquisitions.

15:40Vulnerability measures help us understand the city's vulnerability to external

15:43sources of funding that it cannot control and exposure to risks.

15:48Federal and provincial contributions as a percentage of total revenue

15:52decreased in 2022, reversing a previous trend of increases over the past two

15:57years. The increases in 2021 and 2020 were because of the decreases to user

16:03fees that resulted from COVID-19 and the increase in federal and provincial

16:07funding received through the Safe Restart grants. While there was an

16:11improvement in 2022, the 2022 metric of 17.7% still exceeds the pre-pandemic

16:18level of 14.5% in 2019. Federal and provincial grants helped to offset the

16:24municipal tax levy and have been key to maintaining the financial stability of

16:28the organization through the pandemic. But monitoring reliance on them is

16:32important as well because it can represent a risk if stable sources of

16:35funding from other levels of government were to decrease or be discontinued.

16:41Tax arrears as a percentage of taxes levy gives us insight into the percentage

16:45of property owners unable to pay their property taxes and is an important

16:51indicator of economic health. The percentage increased slightly in 2022

16:56after a small decrease in 2021. However, overall, the city continues to have

17:00very low tax arrears. The city's return on investment increased from 1.62%

17:07in 2021 to 2.14% in 2022 because of the overall rise in market interest rates.

17:14While there is not a specifically established target, it's important to

17:17remember that most of the city's investment portfolio is in fixed income

17:21securities. So the city's return on investment will always lag whatever is

17:25happening with market rates because it takes time for central banks to respond

17:29to economic changes and then it takes time to shift the city's investment

17:34portfolio as GICs and bond maturities occur and funds are reinvested at the

17:39prevailing rates, whether those rates are increasing or decreasing.

17:45And so today we're asking you to approve the draft financial statements,

17:49including in your agenda package. And now I will pass it over to Matt

17:54Baddick to present KPMG's audit findings report after which we will both be

17:59happy to take any questions you may have.

18:09Thank you, Shanna. It's my understanding that our report will be presented.

18:15So thank you for receiving our presentation today. We'll take our report as

18:19read and only touch on some of the highlights. As usual, I'm happy to take

18:23questions as we go, but we'll have some moments for questions and comments at

18:28the conclusion.

18:31Moving through, I'll skip a couple of pages ahead to where we are in terms of

18:36the status of the audit. So we are nearly complete. When we published this

18:40report, we still had a handful of things to go. We've knocked a bunch of those

18:44off already, but we still have to complete this process. We cannot complete

18:48our audit and issue the auditor's report until such time as the statements

18:51have been approved by council, which Shanna has already made that request.

18:55And we expect that to happen. The audit report, which is in our presentation,

19:00is a clean audit opinion. There's no qualifications or modifications, which

19:04is something you should expect that along with a few other things I will touch

19:07on today. I would say is KPMG sort of report card on the overall financial

19:12statements and their preparation process. So one check mark. If you recall at

19:20our January meeting, we were required to disclose and discuss with council the

19:25risk that there may be fraud in the financial statements. And we talk about

19:29that just to be clear. We're talking about how the financial statements may be

19:32intentionally manipulated or misrepresented. We're not talking about

19:36perhaps how the city may be a victim of fraud from some sort of outside

19:40source.

19:42We are required to respond to this risk. It's one that every auditor must

19:46respond to in every audit across Canada, so it's not unique to the city of

19:51Guelph. We do assess that level of risk and we do think it's as low as we're

19:56allowed to set it, but the risk still does exist. We performed a variety of

20:00procedures in response to that. I'm happy to say today we did not have any

20:05findings whatsoever that caused us any concern. As Shannon mentioned on your

20:12financial statements in the liabilities, there are liabilities for what we call

20:16post-employment benefits. These consist of sick leave benefits, WSIB costs as

20:23well as some early retirement health and dental. In order to determine these

20:28amounts, they're calculated by a third party actuary using actuarial methods

20:33and then recorded in the statements. Our responsibilities are to communicate

20:38with the actuaries, make sure that they're using the appropriate standards

20:41and applying the appropriate calculations, and we also assess the

20:46reasonableness of the assumptions that are used and make sure that they're

20:49using the proper data. So we do data tests. We look at the underlying

20:54employee populations that they use to make those calculations and we look at

20:58the assumptions, most notably the discount rate, which we've identified here

21:01in our report at 3.5% and concluded that's reasonable. All this to say we're

21:06happy with the amounts that have been recorded. The next item we talk about

21:12are tangible capital assets and this is obviously the largest single item that

21:17resides in the financial statements. We look at this for a couple of reasons,

21:21A, its size, but B, really the accounting for tangible capital assets can easily

21:29flip flop a surplus. If items are incorrectly capitalized, then there'll be

21:35errors on the income statement. If they're the other way around, there could be

21:38errors in the capital. So we do look at a significant number of the capital

21:43transactions that have been put on the balance sheet and make sure that they are

21:47truly capital. It's usually fairly easy to tell. These are roads, bridges,

21:52building upgrades, vehicles, and the like. We do test the underlying

21:57depreciation expense, how that is calculated. That currently sits at about

22:01a $55 million charge on the city's financial statements and we do look at

22:06the overall capitalization policy that the city applies. We make sure that it's

22:10consistent with the standard as well as consistent with other municipalities of

22:13similar size and scope. No issues or concerns. We also discussed at our

22:20meeting before the accounting for obligatory reserve fund revenue and

22:23deferred revenues and we do this mostly because this is an area where the funds

22:28that are coming in tends not to show up as revenue necessarily on a cash basis.

22:35So there's often a timing difference between when money is received and when

22:40money is recorded as revenue in the financial statements. So for development

22:44charges, the city doesn't record development charge revenue when it gets

22:48the money. It records that revenue when it actually spends the money on the

22:51development related projects that were contemplated in the development charge

22:55study. So there is some judgment that's used there as well as the sort of the

23:00manual interventions that are required to make sure those are recorded

23:02properly. So we do look at the overall DCs coming in. We do look at how those are

23:07spent. We make sure they are spent on development related projects as

23:10contemplated in the study and make sure that those timings work up. We also

23:15consider the impact of wave development charges and make sure those have been

23:18reflected properly in the development charge reserve fund. No issues or

23:22concerns. Last thing I'll talk about here is the accounting for the liability

23:29for contaminated sites. So these are sites that the city owns for which there

23:33is currently a requirement for environmental remediation. Currently that

23:37figure sits at about $28 million on the city's statement of financial position.

23:41It's up about $3 million from last year. Mostly this is due to inflationary

23:46pressures on those future costs. We do look at the overall process that was

23:50undertaken. We look at the expertise that was involved in making those

23:53calculations and make sure everything checks out. Again, we didn't have any

23:57issues or concerns. The second item on the report card we do look at is the

24:04existence of corrected or uncorrected amounts in the financial statements and

24:08we're happy to say we did not identify either. This is a very good thing. It

24:11means that the accounts that we received did not require adjustment to be

24:15presented in their final form. This is what you would hope for but it is not

24:21all that common. So that's an extra little good check mark. The third

24:28element is the identification of controlled efficiencies. So if we identify

24:33a significant controlled efficiency we're required to report it. We did not

24:36identify any. In fact this year we didn't identify any controlled efficiencies

24:41throughout our audit. So again very good. I think the second last thing or

24:48maybe the last thing I'll talk about here is the impact of future reporting

24:51matters. So there is one matter that will have an impact on next year's financial

24:55statements perhaps quite significantly and that's the accounting for asset

24:58retirement obligations. And so this is the requirement to put a liability on

25:02the financial statements where the city is going to have to pay in the future

25:06some costs to retire or decommission certain assets. The most common for a

25:12municipality will be accounting for its landfill which you would already do have

25:16a liability but that will change. If there are any city buildings that have

25:20asbestos in them the accounting for or the cost to remove that future asbestos

25:25will need to be recorded. And if the city has any leases where it's leasing

25:30land or leasing buildings potentially the requirement to remediate that land or

25:35bring it back to its original state at the commencement of the lease may be

25:39required. That third one is a little bit less common but still may exist. And

25:43we're working through with staff to get that in the statements for next year.

25:50Sorry last thing on this page bottom left hand corner in terms of quality

25:54indicators. We do look at the timeliness and quality of the information we

25:58received from staff and we want to report that everything was received on

26:02time and in a good quality manner. So we're very happy about that. Allow the

26:06audit to run as it was expected on time and efficiently. And I want to thank

26:11Shannon and Michael and the rest of their team for their assistance in getting

26:15us here today. So with that I'll turn it back to the chair for questions or

26:18comments.

26:19Thank you very much Matt, Shannon as well for your presentation. We'll just you

26:24know just formally from a procedural point of view if I could ask for the

26:28motion to be put on the floor chair.

26:33Perfect thank you. So it's moved and seconded and then any specific questions

26:38for either our staff or Matt. Okay start with the chair.

26:43Thank you very much Mayor Guthrie. I only have two questions but I do want to

26:47thank Mr. Bettich for in June. It's always nice to get a good report card so

26:52I appreciate that we're getting into summer holidays and our parents are

26:56going to be happy. But with regards to the capital reserves and the asset

27:04ratio, I would expect that there could be recommendations that we might expect

27:09to see in coming year or the coming term about this. I was wondering if you

27:12could comment on that.

27:16Through the mayor, yes we expect to be bringing back updated recommendations

27:21through the next multi-year budget cycle. And just correct me if I'm wrong but

27:26I really did expect this to come up because I did expect that the big

27:31elephant in the room is actually Bill 23 having a significant impact on what

27:35we're looking at in terms of creative finances moving forward. I could be

27:40wrong. I do admit that.

27:42Through the mayor to Councillor Allt. Yes Bill 23 will have a big impact but

27:46the infrastructure renewal piece is really more related to that asset

27:51consumption ratio. And so that's a big impact as well.

27:55Okay thank you. The other question, one that I think we don't have any control

28:01over and that's really my question. Federal Provincial Revenue. It strikes me

28:06that we would have very little control over this at any point because there are

28:09external factors that we can't deal with. These have a massive impact on how we

28:14might take advantage of these and they all relate to both federal and

28:17provincial programs that might arise that we would want to take advantage of.

28:21So they're there based upon really the political wins of the province or the

28:26federal government. Is that correct?

28:29Through the mayor to a certain extent yes. What's offered is dependent on or

28:34what we get is dependent on what's offered but we also do take a strategic

28:38and very comprehensive approach to seeking out and applying for grants that

28:44fund our programs.

28:46Thank you. Thank you. Is there any other questions? I got Councillor O'Rourke.

28:53Thank you Mayor Guthrie through you. I have a question for staff and a question

28:56for Mr. Beck. So through you Mayor Guthrie to staff. I just want to be sure

29:00I'm understanding asset consumption ratio and what the trends are. So the

29:03infrastructure we know is aging so it's aging faster than we thought but you're

29:09saying the assets are being used up more quickly but then also are we just not

29:13replacing it as quickly as we thought we would and so are we going to see this

29:17trend continue? We know you've got lots of budget pressures. What does it mean

29:21that we have those two trends operating at the same time?

29:25Through the mayor to Councillor O'Rourke. So yes as we work through the capital

29:30asset backlog we expect to see that trend start to reverse. I think that answers

29:38your question and as we continue to invest in infrastructure renewal that's

29:43another big part of that and I think Tara wants to jump in.

29:48Yeah just through the mayor to Councillor O'Rourke I wanted to also add that

29:53we had brought, we had been noticing this trend a couple years ago and that was

29:57really one of the big reasons for the capital plan resourcing strategy as

30:02well is really grounded in the fact that we weren't replacing and doing that

30:09infrastructure renewal as fast as we needed to and so this I would say we did

30:14see improvement and we've seen a little bit of improvement in spending and so

30:18this has only been one year really since that strategy was put in place so we

30:25feel like we're on the right track. However through the 23 budget there was

30:32a cut in the infrastructure renewal tax funding and so I feel like we as a

30:38finance team are looking at that and we will be discussing that as we come into

30:43budget this year. Okay thank you. Through you Mr. Mayor to staff, the second

30:48question for staff sorry reserve the right to ask three questions. A question

30:52about the cash and investments to reserve and reserve funds ratio so I thought

30:59we part of the strength of the AAA credit rating was that our reserves were so

31:03healthy but that we fully expect that when the library is built and the

31:07South End Rec Center opens those reserves are going to drop down and we expect

31:10that trend right so won't that give us a negative trend like we'll see it we'll

31:17see a negative change into the next year because we'll be drawing on reserves

31:22which was forecasted or if we do a lot of infrastructure spending or capital

31:28spending that'll come down but it won't it be won't the indicator be negative

31:33when it was exactly what we had anticipated to do rather than sit with

31:37reserves in our productive. Through the mayor it's this is both numbers will

31:42come down so the cash and investments number will come down and the reserves

31:46and reserve fund balance will come down so the ratio shouldn't be have a

31:51negative impact. Okay yeah thank you appreciate that and through you Mayor

31:55Guthrie to Mr. Bettek I ask the same question every year I know you've

31:59laid lots of you've answered preemptively the questions at the podium but as

32:06governors is there any reason why we should go into closed for a conversation

32:09about the financial statements. Sorry it turned off on me we have no reason to go

32:22into closed session at this time but I appreciate the question. I appreciate

32:25that thank you. All right I just I just oh I'm sorry Councillor Gibson go ahead.

32:37Thank you Mayor Guthrie I just ready for comments that's all I ask if you're

32:41gonna have a comment section after this. Sure I'll just have my question then

32:45excuse me I'll go to you then. I'm just wondering about the one investments

32:52forget what's happened with that you have an update on that so because we're

32:57getting like one to two percent return on the investments and then there was that

33:00one investment idea that came for I just can't remember what happened with that.

33:05Sure so we brought a report last year or yeah previously we brought a report to

33:17council about potentially exploring the prudent investor standard option under

33:21the municipal act so we do already we're currently under the legal list that

33:28we've made a lot of progress in our in our items that we had outlined in that

33:35report to follow up on however we do still have work to do to continue to

33:40assess and bring back a recommendation to council and that's on the work plan

33:44for beginning possibly later this year or early next year so we will be coming

33:51back to you on that we do have investments with the one fund already in

33:56the current legal list so we have the one equity portfolio and two one bond

34:01portfolios so we do definitely already access the one fund but there's a

34:06broader range of investments that can be accessed under the prudent investor

34:10standard and that comes with a different governance structure if if council

34:17chooses to go that way. Yeah you're reminding me a little bit of the report

34:20now thank you okay thank you. Then my last one is just a follow-up question to

34:25councillor works I had a similar thing written down but I'm gonna scope it a

34:29bit differently just not quite understanding why there was the red

34:35arrow you know pointing the wrong way under the infrastructure part that you

34:39talked about because we have a lot of unspent because you couldn't not you

34:45city couldn't you know actually get projects done so there's this growing

34:53huge what I thought was huge sort of reserves in that infrastructure can you

34:59just explain that how that translates into what we're seeing about that trend.

35:04Sure so the asset consumption ratio is total tangible capital assets divided by

35:11accumulated amortization so it's really it's the ratio that's presented

35:17there and it indicates that our assets are more used up so as our

35:24infrastructure renewal capital resourcing strategy keeps becoming

35:29implemented and as we get those capital projects which we definitely were

35:33moving in the right direction in 2022 that ratio will begin to reverse yeah.

35:40Thanks so basically I'm so sorry I asked kind of the same question

35:44councillor work did which Tara also answered this film I'm sorry but to ask

35:49it in a different way you've because I just needed to hear it twice so thank

35:52you all right I'm done with questions I guess I got a comment from councillor

35:56Gibson and I don't know if there's any more after that but I'll go to Gibson

36:00and then look to call the vote. Thank you three Mr. Mayor Guthrie so I've heard

36:06I've heard twice now since budget the term cut used in referring first of all

36:12thanks very much for the for the audit and the report it looks great I

36:16thoroughly enjoyed reading it it looks like we're in good financial standing

36:20but I've heard the word cut used twice now when referring to our infrastructure

36:24renewal levy and I just want to speak a little bit to that if there was no cut

36:28made during the infrastructure renewal levy during budget this year we we

36:32simply slowed the rate of increase of that transfer but I have confirmation

36:37and I have correspondence from staff that clearly state that our our

36:40infrastructure renewal transfer was north of 20 million dollars this year

36:45so I just want to breathe a little bit of counterpoint to the word cut when

36:50we're talking about our infrastructure renewal levy that's that's simply not

36:52true the the truth is we simply slowed the rate of increase of that

36:57infrastructure renewal levy we did not cut any transfer to that levy thank you

37:07okay thank you very much I'll just look to call the vote then on this and I'll call it now and

37:14he's anyone against okay seeing none that's unanimous thank you so much to KPMG and uh

37:22and uh to staff lots of thumbs up and good comments so really appreciate the work

37:29because we know it's a lot of work so thank you um with that um looking for adjournment