Committee of the Whole

27:18All right, good afternoon everybody.

27:20Thank you so much for being here.

27:21I'll just officially call the meeting to order.

27:24It is Wednesday, December the 4th, 2024.

27:27It's just after two o'clock and we're here for our committee

27:30of the whole meeting for December.

27:33Right off the top, I think this is the first one

27:36for the whole year, so it's nice to get to the end of the year

27:39and actually have a little bit of a change.

27:41We have actually someone in person that is going

27:44to actually sing our national anthem.

27:46So this is a reminder that as much as we love listening

27:50to some recordings, every time we do the national anthem,

27:55we do encourage people, if you have an instrument you play

27:58or a beautiful voice, please, you know, feel free

28:02to join us down here.

28:04Engage with our clerk's department just to kind

28:07of get the process underway of seeing if you can come

28:10and sing O Canada for us.

28:11And so today, I'm very grateful to announce

28:14that Githmi Ilan Pruma is coming here to sing O Canada.

28:22So if everyone is able, let's all stand and listen to Githmi.

28:26O Canada, our home and native land.

28:44True patriot love in all of us command.

28:56With glowing hearts we see thee rise, the true North strong

29:07and free from far and wide O Canada.

29:17We stand on guard for thee.

29:25O Canada, our home and native land.

29:34True patriot love in all of us command.

29:43With glowing hearts we see thee rise, the true North strong

30:07and free from far and wide O Canada.

30:12That was excellent.

30:14Such a good job.

30:15Githmi, how long have you been singing for?

30:17How long have you been doing this for?

30:18For about six years, six, seven years.

30:23You did a joke and said, whoa, six days.

30:26Well, good for you.

30:27And have you sang elsewhere?

30:28Like where did you start doing this?

30:30So I performed with my sister back home, like I'm from Vaughan.

30:35OK.

30:35So we do like during COVID, I feel like we got more

30:39in the performing alley.

30:42And we would perform for chemo clinics at hospitals

30:46and different fundraisers as well.

30:48So I think that really got me in the mood to do this more.

30:54That's great.

30:55Yeah.

30:55That's great.

30:56So you're living in Guelph now?

30:58I'm, yeah.

30:58You didn't travel all the way from Vaughan, right?

31:00No.

31:00OK.

31:01Because I go to university here.

31:02University?

31:03Yeah.

31:04Great.

31:05Great.

31:05What are you taking at the university?

31:07I'm in biomedical science and then I'm minoring in music.

31:10Of course.

31:11Sounds like a major in music to me.

31:13Yeah.

31:14Well, hey, thank you so much.

31:15On behalf of the city and council,

31:17you have an awesome voice.

31:19Thank you.

31:20Keep it up for sure.

31:21OK.

31:21You're welcome back here anytime.

31:23And I'm sure we'll see you and or hear you on the radio one day.

31:27OK.

31:28So let's give her another round of applause.

31:30Good job.

31:36All right.

31:37As we continue, just a moment of silent reflection

31:40just before we continue on with the rest of our agenda.

31:51Great.

31:51Thank you, everybody.

31:52And for our territorial acknowledgement,

31:54as we gather, let us take time to reflect on the privilege

31:57to live and work here in Guelph, a city that's

32:00built over rich indigenous histories.

32:02We're guests here and we should reflect

32:03upon the responsibility to care for this land, the people who

32:07live here today and the generations to come.

32:09If our actions today can move us towards reconciliation,

32:13we should take pause and make those decisions

32:15with intention and gratitude.

32:17This place we call Guelph has served as traditional lands

32:19in a place of refuge for many peoples over time,

32:22but more specifically, the Anuannaraq and the Hulunashoni.

32:26This land is held as the treaty lands and territory

32:29with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

32:32And Guelph lies directly adjacent to the Haldiman track

32:34and is part of a long established traditional hunting

32:37grounds for the six nations of the Grand River.

32:39Many First Nations Inuit and Métis peoples

32:42who have come from across Turtle Island

32:43call Guelph home today.

32:46With that, is there any disclosure of pecuniary interest

32:49or any general nature thereof for the agenda items

32:55in front of us?

32:57Hearing and seeing none, we can continue.

32:59And we can continue on with a really special part

33:03of our agenda today, which is some recognitions.

33:05Specifically, staff recognitions.

33:08We have just one from the staff side of things.

33:11And then we'll have another recognition after that as well.

33:15It's always nice to pass the mic over

33:18to Chair Downer.

33:21No, Chair Caron, I think it is actually.

33:23I think it's Chair Caron.

33:24Yes, Chair Caron for the staff recognition today.

33:55Chair Caron, are you OK to do that now?

34:00Or I don't know if your microphone might not be working.

34:08OK.

34:10I'll just get to jump in and do it then, if that's OK with everyone.

34:15I'm sure Chair Caron would do much better than me,

34:17but I'm going to jump in and do it.

34:18So I'm very pleased to congratulate Trista.

34:24She's right here.

34:25She's right in front.

34:27On her recent appointment as president

34:29of the Ontario Associations of Committees of Adjustment

34:32and Consent Authorities, or OACA.

34:35The OACA is a distinguished not-for-profit association

34:41dedicated to providing educational opportunities

34:43for committee of adjustment staff and members.

34:47It also plays a crucial role in advocating for legislative

34:52and regulatory changes at the provincial government level

34:55to streamline the minor variance and consent processes.

35:00By stepping into this leadership role with the OACA,

35:04Trista is showcasing her unwavering commitment

35:06to public service.

35:08Her vision and dedication are instrumental

35:10in making the committee of adjustment process more

35:12transparent and accessible for all residents.

35:16Congratulations, Trista.

35:17Let's give a huge round of applause.

35:25Trista, I just want to say, I'm not making this up.

35:27You're thinking I'm making this up on the spot, but I'm not.

35:30I was just talking to a citizen, like literally a week ago,

35:32who could not thank you enough, praising you enough

35:35for everything that you're doing at committee of adjustments

35:37about how you were helping them.

35:39So I've seen your work firsthand,

35:41but it's always nice to hear it from third party person.

35:43So you are definitely not ignored by the community members

35:46that you engage with a lot.

35:48And I'm just going to also just say

35:49that I know that you have an unwavering commitment

35:51to public service in your role here,

35:54but I also know that you have a huge role

35:56for the community service that you do with charitable work,

35:59and we know what that is.

36:00So thank you what you're doing inside City Hall,

36:02but what you're doing outside of City Hall too.

36:04Let's give her another round of applause.

36:06It's just doing great work.

36:10Did you want to, do you have the certificate,

36:12or handy for that, or no, but a picture?

36:15Good, lucky you, hey, lucky you.

36:17I will come down, we'll do a quick picture,

36:19and then I'll come up and we'll have Chair Downer

36:23do the next recognition, and we'll be right back.

37:47Okay, thank you so much.

37:48We're going into a separate section of recognitions

37:51now on the agenda.

37:52It's recognition of life-saving acts

37:55by members of our community.

37:56And so all I can say here is listen up everyone,

38:00this is a great news story,

38:01I'm going to turn it over to Chair Downer.

38:04Yes, I'm thrilled to be passing along this information

38:08to our community so we can acknowledge it.

38:11So on Monday, October 28th, our paramedics responded

38:15to the YMCA of Three Rivers on Woodlong Glen Drive,

38:19Ingwelf, to care for a patient who, after playing squash,

38:23suddenly collapsed to the ground.

38:25Two Y staff members and another squash player

38:27jumped into action, finding that this person

38:30did not have a pulse and was not breathing.

38:32They began performing CPR and rescue breathing,

38:35and access the public access defibrillator

38:39that is available at the Y.

38:41Using that device, they were able to deliver a shock

38:44that restored his heartbeat.

38:46Firefighters in Gwelf-Wollington Paramedics

38:48arrived shortly after to find a patient unconscious

38:52but with a pulse.

38:53The team was able to stabilize the patient

38:56and transport him to the Gwelf General Hospital.

38:59Research by the Heart and Stroke Foundation

39:01has found that for a person in cardiac arrest,

39:04the chances of survival decrease by 7% to 10%

39:08for every minute without definitive care,

39:12CPR, rescue breathing, and defibrillation.

39:15Despite the best efforts of paramedics,

39:19the survival rate for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

39:22remains relatively low.

39:24In this case, the quick and appropriate actions

39:27of the people at the YMCA before paramedics and firefighters

39:31could arrive led to a positive outcome for this patient.

39:35And we want to recognize Y patrons, Teri Pritchard,

39:38and the YMCA employees, Lee Lewitski and Kate Gillespie,

39:43for assisting paramedics in saving a life.

39:46Paramedic Janika Boyle was on call

39:49and is here with us today as well.

39:52We are particularly happy to welcome with us this afternoon

39:56Mr. Patrick Murray.

39:57Mr. Murray was the victim of the unfortunate event in October,

40:01and we are so pleased that he was able to join us

40:04in thanking the people involved and highlighting

40:06the importance of public access to defibrillators.

40:12On behalf of the city of Guelph, Guelph-Wallington

40:15Paramedic Services encourages and supports

40:18having public access defibrillators in public facilities.

40:22The service has a practice where when a defibrillator is used,

40:26we take the device and download the information from it

40:29for the patient's record and to assist in his or her care.

40:33In doing this, we leave a loaner device just in case something

40:37else should happen before we can return it.

40:40And as it happens, and while preparing for this presentation

40:44on Sunday, November 24, the Y did experience another event.

40:48A patient was swimming laps in the pool,

40:51and when he paused to rest, lifeguards

40:53noted that he appeared to be in distress

40:55and went face down into the water.

40:58The lifeguards immediately pulled him from the pool

41:00and finding that he did not have a pulse.

41:02They began to perform CPR and access the public access

41:06defibrillator.

41:07They shocked the patient and restarted the patient's heart

41:10even before the Guelph firefighters and paramedics

41:14could reach them.

41:15Again, in this case, paramedics were

41:17able to stabilize the patient and transport him to hospital.

41:21So once again, the quick and heroic actions

41:25of the lifeguards and the aqua-fit and structure

41:27contributed to the efforts of our responders

41:30to care for a patient in a very critical situation.

41:35We want to recognize Kim Carrary, Caitlin Lawheed,

41:38and Brooklyn Hartog for their efforts

41:41in assisting paramedics in saving a life.

41:45Garford Sterrow, Jordan Furlong, and Ethan Edwards

41:49were the paramedics who attended that day

41:51and are with us to help recognize the events of that day.

41:55As is often the case with heroes,

41:57the people involved in these events are humble

42:00and did not wish to come forward to be recognized here

42:02in the horseshoe.

42:03But we thank them for their actions

42:05and for demonstrating the importance of learning CPR

42:09and using a public access defibrillator when it really

42:13counts.

42:14Well, thanks to everybody.

42:41Thank you, Chair Downer.

42:42And again, thank you very much for all involved.

42:47There's quite a few people in the room

42:48here for those watching online.

42:51A lot of smiles, a lot of nods, a lot of pats on the back here.

42:55So again, on behalf of the city, just thank you.

42:59That's all we can say is thank you.

43:00And for some that are here that went through that ordeal,

43:06we are so glad that you're here.

43:07It's just awesome.

43:08So thank you very, very much.

43:11As much as I'm sure you would be thrilled to stay

43:14for the rest of our council agenda,

43:17this is probably the appropriate time

43:18if you wanted to stand up and grab your jackets and whatnot.

43:21You can definitely stay and listen to variance reports

43:24and other audits if you wish.

43:26But really, at this time, it's a good little break

43:30if you wanted to jump up.

43:31And so thank you again for coming.

43:33All the best to all of you.

43:37So just as that's happening, we are

43:39going to change over to the service area for audit.

43:44And our Chair, Chair Goller, is here.

43:49Would you like to just do it from there today?

43:52Or would you like to sit here because it is just a presentation?

43:55So OK, no problem.

43:57So I'll just turn it over at the time to Chair Goller.

44:01And Chair Goller will just stay where he's at right now

44:05just to move into the audit section.

44:06So I'll turn it over to you.

44:07Go ahead.

44:09Thank you, Your Worship.

44:10I'll move us along to item 4.1 on the agenda,

44:15the external audit plan for 2024.

44:18And we have a presentation from Mr. Bedek from KPMG.

44:24And are you with us, Mr. Bedek?

44:29We can see your presentation, but we can't hear you yet.

44:37There we go.

44:38Yeah, if you're on the phone, if you can press star 6,

44:41that shouldn't meet you.

44:47For me to be able to.

44:49We can hear you now.

44:51OK, great.

44:51Just a second for me to unmute when they allow me to do so.

44:55OK, so thank you so much.

44:57If you don't mind, I'll jump right in the story

44:59where were their staff comments and events.

45:02No comments, I believe.

45:04Right over to you.

45:06OK, great.

45:07So we'll have a quick flip through our audit planning

45:11report for this cycle, reminding committee

45:15that this is our plan for what we intend to accomplish

45:19for the audit of the 2024 financial statements,

45:23as well as several other reports as we work through.

45:26We understand that the materials were presented

45:28to committee members in advance.

45:30So we will go through this on a sort of a page by page basis,

45:33but we'll touch on some of the highlights in the presentation.

45:37So if we can scroll down, I think it's five pages.

45:45One more, please.

45:48So each year we do discuss materiality in the audit.

45:52I just want to remind committee members

45:53that we set materiality at the commencement of the audit

45:57primarily for two purposes.

45:59It sets the extent of testing and the scoping

46:02that we perform, as well as the benchmark for which we evaluate

46:06the final financial statements to ensure that we

46:08could give a clean audit opinion.

46:11We've set materiality for the consolidated financial statements

46:15for the city at approximately $9 million,

46:18which represents about 1.5% of your last year revenues.

46:25The standards require that we set up materiality

46:29on a benchmark between 1.5% and 3%.

46:33So we're sort of right in the middle of that.

46:35Being in the middle recognizes that we don't think

46:38there is a high degree of risk that

46:40requires a response of a lower materiality,

46:44but we're also conscious that we want to make sure

46:48that if there are any items that need

46:50to be corrected with the financial statements,

46:52our audit is precise enough to capture those.

46:56We do know that it is an increase from the prior year,

47:00but it's increasing more consistently

47:03with how the revenues of the city continue to increase.

47:07I can move you down to the next slide, please.

47:12Here, despite the table and the pictures above,

47:15really what we're disclosing here are the entities that

47:18are subject to audit, and it is all of the entities

47:21within the city.

47:22So we've got the city itself, as well as the boards

47:26and commissions that are subject to audit

47:28that are separate from the city activities.

47:31There are no items that aren't subject to testing

47:36in our group audit scope.

47:38If we move on to the next slide, please.

47:42So here we give a bit of a snapshot

47:43on some of the main risk areas of our audit.

47:47It's not the full listing of all the areas

47:51that we look at and all the areas we test,

47:53but some of the ones that may be a little bit more

47:56interest to this committee.

47:58I want to note, and we say this sort of towards the bottom

48:01of the slide, our risk ratings range

48:05from base to elevated to significant.

48:08So we basically have three risk categories.

48:11So the top one is the risk of fraud

48:14from the override of internal controls.

48:16And we have talked about this before.

48:18This is the presumed risk that all audits in Canada

48:21have to have and have to have a response to.

48:25And what it means is, regardless of how good

48:28any control structure is, there may be individuals

48:33within the entity that have a reason, an incentive,

48:37a rationalization to override those controls

48:40and include fictitious or fraudulent amounts

48:42in the financial statements.

48:44This is required to be a significant risk

48:47and we do have specific responses to that.

48:51Having said that, in our assessments and testing

48:54in years past, we've never found any issues.

48:56And I would say there is nothing in our preliminary work

48:59that causes us to believe that there is something

49:02over and above the presumed risk here.

49:05So just want to make sure that context is understood.

49:09For the next several items, we identify that we've assessed

49:14their risk ratings as either elevated or base.

49:18When we set a risk rating at elevated,

49:20we're looking at what inherent factors

49:23might make it more susceptible to error

49:26in the financial statements.

49:27And so the three that we've identified as elevated

49:30are post-employment benefits, obligatory reserve funds,

49:33which is primarily development charges

49:36and asset retirement obligations.

49:38And these are elevated, at least the post-employment benefits

49:42in the asset retirement obligations

49:44because there are complexities in these calculations

49:47as well as significant judgments and estimates.

49:49And anytime you have any one of those things,

49:52the risk that there's an error in that account

49:54certainly is elevated.

49:56And our response to that is we do make sure we go through,

50:00we take extra diligence and perform additional procedures

50:03to make sure that that risk is appropriately responded to.

50:06Portangential capital assets, we do include this at base.

50:10We do know that while the accounting

50:12for tangible capital assets is not complex,

50:16and for the most part doesn't require

50:17a lot of estimate and judgment,

50:19there is some estimate in determining

50:21the estimated usable lives of those assets.

50:24So we consider that as well.

50:26The total balance of the financial statements

50:28is quite significant.

50:29It's the largest single item

50:31on the state of the financial position.

50:33So we do wanna make sure we have a specific response to that.

50:37On the next two slides,

50:39we go through our responses to these.

50:42I will go through them in detail.

50:44It is fairly consistent with what we've done in prior years,

50:47as well as consistent with how we perform our audits

50:50for any municipality in the province volunteer.

50:55Moving on, two more slides, please.

50:58We have our overall timeline for the year.

51:01So we commence our planning and risk assessment

51:05a little bit earlier this year,

51:06and that continues through the fall

51:09and interim work before Christmas.

51:12And then in March to June,

51:14we will commence our year-end testing.

51:16We'll be on site at the city to perform those testing,

51:19conducting our interviews and inquiries

51:21with various staff members,

51:23and then completing our reviews of the financial statements

51:26and ultimately reporting to this committee

51:29on the results of our work.

51:33The remainder of our presentation are various dependencies,

51:37which I will go through in detail,

51:38but now I can pause and hand it back over to the chair

51:42if there are any questions or comments.

51:45Thank you, Mr. Badek.

51:46I'll go over to Councillor Gibson.

51:49Go ahead, Dan.

51:50Thank you, through you, Chair Goller, to Mr. Badek.

51:54Thanks for explaining to us the $9 million threshold.

51:59I was just wondering if you could expand a little bit more.

52:01I know that there's a generally accepted range,

52:05but what would be a change of scope

52:10to direct you to do a lower threshold or a lower,

52:15say we wanted the bar at $3 million for the audit purpose?

52:19Could you explain to me what the difference

52:20in workload would be?

52:22Yeah, so if we were to lower that,

52:25then certain parts of our audit would take more time

52:30because we would increase either the extent of testing

52:34or the precision of the testing we performed.

52:37So in some instances, we performed statistical samples

52:41based on the size of the population.

52:43So it's easier to say if we had reduced,

52:45if we'd done from $9 million and cut it in half

52:48to $4.5 million, that would double the amount of tests

52:51that you would have to do.

52:52So for example, we would test additions to fixed assets.

52:57Typically, we'd be looking at sample sizes

52:59in the range of 25 to 30.

53:01That would double to 50 to 60.

53:05We perform other tests where we refer to them

53:09as analytical calculations.

53:12So say, for example, water and wastewater revenue.

53:17So we've got the ability to understand

53:19like how much water was sold to residents

53:24and we know the rates.

53:26And so we do a calculation of volume times rate

53:30and we compare that to what's been recorded

53:32in the financial statements.

53:34And based on the materiality level,

53:36that sets the sort of tolerable difference

53:38that we're allowed to be out by.

53:39So we're doing sort of a rough calculation.

53:42And so as long as it's within, in our case,

53:45say $3 million, we're able to conclude

53:48that that count is fairly stated.

53:51If we were to lower materiality,

53:53that threshold would have to get lowered as well.

53:56And so if we're then outside of that,

53:58we would have to take a more precise test,

54:01perhaps disaggregating amongst types of customers

54:05or other types of information.

54:06So we would see an increase in workload there as well.

54:10Was that helpful?

54:11Yeah, no problem.

54:12And I guess that's set out in the terms of conditions

54:15in the contract.

54:15My other question, you did speak to the auditing.

54:20Maybe you could just expand a little bit

54:22on your work plan for auditing

54:24sort of interpretive charges

54:27like development charges or sort of subjective charges

54:30that maybe aren't hard and fast.

54:32How would you go about completing the audit

54:35with a materiality of 9 million?

54:36I can't think of many projects

54:38that have that many dollars attached

54:41to development charges.

54:43Yeah, so we would take all of the,

54:45so for development charges, it's a very unique process.

54:48So we look at all the development charges that come in

54:51and so we will test a sample of those collections

54:53that happened during the period.

54:55And then as you know, those,

54:58the DCs when they come in,

54:59they go into a DC reserve fund

55:01and the funds are released out of the reserve fund

55:05as those development projects are undertaken.

55:08And so again, we would test to see that the money

55:12the project that those are funding

55:14were in fact expenses that were incurred

55:17and were development related projects

55:19that were consistent with the ultimate bylaw

55:23for setting those DCs additionally.

55:25So that's a very specific thing.

55:27Where we do have other programs,

55:29we might aggregate all those programs together

55:34to your point where none would meet the 9 million threshold

55:38but we aggregate them all together.

55:40Maybe that would be sort of 20 million in total costs

55:42or total revenues and we do testing on that whole bucket.

55:46And so just to be clear,

55:47just because we've set materiality at 9 million,

55:49I know the mayor asked me this question every year,

55:52every single transaction that the city has undertaken

55:55is subject to testing.

55:57So it's not that we're not looking at anything

55:59below that figure.

56:02And in many cases, we are testing lots of transactions

56:04below that figure, even down to,

56:07an expense report that somebody issues for a cup of coffee

56:11could be subject to testing.

56:14Okay, that puts my mind at ease.

56:15Because although it is only 1% to 3% of our annual revenue

56:20or our annual budget,

56:229 million dollars just seem high.

56:24And from the materiality that I've heard from other companies

56:26when they do their financial statements every year,

56:29I've heard people setting the materiality at $10,000

56:31because they want every transaction under,

56:33any transaction under $10,000 is okay, but above that,

56:37we wanna know that we're crossing all our cheese

56:41and dotting all our I's.

56:43Thanks very much for spending some time

56:46answering my questions, appreciate it.

56:48You're welcome.

56:50Thank you for that, Councillor Gibson.

56:51I'll go over to Councillor O'Rourke

56:53and then Councillor Katelyn.

56:55Thanks very much, Chair Goller.

56:57Just a quick question, Mr. Bettock,

56:59I have a question for you every year.

57:01I'm wondering what the role of AI is in audits.

57:06So how is that changing?

57:08Does it speed up the process for an audit?

57:12What is it that us as a board of governors

57:14with a few fiduciary responsibility

57:16need to know about the role of AI in this audit?

57:21So we are continuing to use digital tools in our audit.

57:27AI is a very wide term,

57:34and so there's lots of things

57:35that sort of can qualify for AI.

57:39Very specifically, one tool that we are rolling out,

57:42and I'm not sure that we will use it

57:45for the CEQOLF this year,

57:47but we do have what's called transactional scoring.

57:51And when we do that, what we'll take

57:54is the entire population, usually of expenses,

58:00that you paid for through invoices

58:03or other types of contracts.

58:05And that population is run through a series of filters,

58:09and it's looking at outliers or high-risk items.

58:13When we go through that,

58:14then that focuses our testing on those high-risk or outliers.

58:19And so that's one way that sort of AI is impacting audits,

58:24is creating an opportunity to focus on areas

58:28that are more likely to have risk.

58:32I've explained in the past, or I've discussed in the past,

58:36we will also test journal entries

58:40as part of our fraud risk response.

58:42And in that, again, we'll take the entire set of transactions

58:46for the entire year,

58:47and we'll set a number of parameters,

58:50and we have some digital tools that,

58:52using those parameters,

58:53we'll seek out, again, high-risk items

58:57to make sure that we do a full testing on those

59:00and make sure there's nothing untoward going on.

59:06Thank you.

59:06And through you, Chair Goller,

59:08if I could ask a secondary question.

59:10So that's the tech side and the automation side to a degree.

59:14On the human side is a portion of the audit

59:18still conducted on site?

59:21Oh, yes, absolutely.

59:22And I would say the vast majority is conducted on site

59:26and it is sort of conducted in a human way.

59:31That's not gonna change for a long, long time.

59:37I've been doing audits now for over 30 years.

59:42This is just another problem.

59:44Like, when we started doing audits,

59:45we brought in Excel as a tool.

59:48This is just sort of the next generation of tools.

59:53Yeah, so through you, Chair Goller,

59:55I asked the question because through COVID,

59:57things were being done remote,

59:59but my husband's an accountant

1:00:01and who's done his share of public accounting no longer,

1:00:05but it has.

1:00:06And there's value in having the audit team on site

1:00:11and getting a sense of the team

1:00:14and how the team works together

1:00:16and the responses and all those things.

1:00:17So I understand that there are usually now

1:00:20some aspects of remoteness,

1:00:22but it's good to know that there's also a component

1:00:25where you are on site

1:00:26because that human component's important.

1:00:27Thanks.

1:00:28Yes, yes.

1:00:30Thank you for that, Councillor O'Rourke.

1:00:32I'll go over to Councillor Caitlin.

1:00:36Thank you, through you, Chair Goller.

1:00:39I was just interested in our development charges

1:00:43versus our reserves.

1:00:45Is there a way to be able to tell historically

1:00:49how the development charges

1:00:51and the way that we've been able to collect them

1:00:53and the amounts have affected our reserves?

1:00:56Does that change historically

1:00:58or do we just look at them as a snapshot year after year?

1:01:03So for our purpose,

1:01:04and I think part of this question

1:01:07should maybe go to Shanna and staff,

1:01:11for the purpose of the audit financial statements,

1:01:13we're really looking at the continuity

1:01:17of development charges for the year.

1:01:19So we're sort of more looking at the facts,

1:01:22what came in, what went out,

1:01:25and did what go out,

1:01:27was that the proper amount to go out?

1:01:30So we're not really evaluating the sufficiency

1:01:35of those collections,

1:01:37whether that DC Reserve Fund has got enough ability

1:01:41to pay for the ongoing development-related projects.

1:01:46So we are sort of looking at it as a snapshot,

1:01:49it's a picture,

1:01:50but it's what happens just sort of within the year.

1:01:56Great, thank you very much.

1:01:57You're welcome.

1:01:59Thank you for that.

1:02:00Were there any other questions from staff

1:02:02or any comments, any questions from councillors

1:02:05or any comments from staff at this point?

1:02:08Go ahead.

1:02:09Thank you, Chair Goller.

1:02:10I can just build on Mr. Bettick's response

1:02:13on the reserve piece.

1:02:14We do have an annual report that goes in May.

1:02:18On the use of all of the reserves and reserve funds,

1:02:21and the balances,

1:02:23especially in those DC Reserve Funds,

1:02:25there's a treasurer statement related to the collection

1:02:28and use of development charges.

1:02:30As well, new this year,

1:02:31we've started reporting quarterly

1:02:33on development charge collections and exemptions

1:02:36in our budget monitoring reports,

1:02:38and that's a big focus at budget time as well,

1:02:41is looking at those projections of collections coming in

1:02:45based on our development charge background study,

1:02:47and spending going out

1:02:48based on the approved capital budget.

1:02:50And that's all of that works together

1:02:53to bring that picture together

1:02:55from a planning and strategy perspective.

1:03:00Perfect, thank you very much for that.

1:03:02Seeing no other questions,

1:03:03may I have a motion to receive

1:03:06the external audit plan for information?

1:03:09Moved by his worship, Mayor Guthrie,

1:03:11and seconded by Councillor Richardson.

1:03:14With nothing else, I'll call the question.

1:03:17All those against, please raise your hand.

1:03:21Seeing none, that is passed unanimously.

1:03:24Thank you, everyone.

1:03:25Are there any announcements from finances at this point?

1:03:29No, no announcements.

1:03:30I'll turn it over to you, your worship.

1:03:32Great, thanks, Chair Gowar.

1:03:34Moving into the governance service area,

1:03:37we do have a consent item,

1:03:39which is the 2024 third quarter budget monitoring report,

1:03:44with two recommendations,

1:03:46one for an approval of that report,

1:03:49but also a second that is for the 448,000

1:03:56to be given to the paramedics facility renewal.

1:04:01I'll first ask if anyone needs

1:04:06to actually pull this report for any questions.

1:04:10No questions, but just a comment from Councillor O'Rourke.

1:04:14So Councillor O'Rourke,

1:04:15would you mind at least moving the two motions for us?

1:04:17I'd be happy to.

1:04:17And who would like to second those for me?

1:04:19I'll go to the screen.

1:04:20Corrine, let's do Corrine today.

1:04:22Okay, O'Rourke with a comment, go ahead.

1:04:25Yeah, thank you, Mayor Guthrie.

1:04:26So through you to staff, I think this is amazing

1:04:31that the budget is projected to be within 0.16%

1:04:38of your forecast.

1:04:40Like that is just on a half a billion dollar

1:04:43operating budget to have a surplus

1:04:45that's under a million dollars of 850,000

1:04:48means the forecast were right, the management was right,

1:04:52where things need to be shifted,

1:04:54it happened within our existing policies and rules.

1:04:57And I just think it's remarkable.

1:04:59And we hear people cast aspersions

1:05:03on municipalities and financial management sometimes.

1:05:07And I would just suggest

1:05:09that anybody who wants to read the 24 pages of detail

1:05:12that outlines where there are variances and why,

1:05:15including changes to suppliers,

1:05:17I mean, the degree of transparency here

1:05:20and accountability is really remarkable.

1:05:22And I just think it's a job really well done.

1:05:29Thank you so much.

1:05:31I was going to say something,

1:05:32but now it's so simple,

1:05:33because I can just say ditto.

1:05:35So we're done with my comments.

1:05:37With that, I will call the vote on that,

1:05:40on that, on those two motions.

1:05:41Is there anybody against those two motions?

1:05:46Nobody, so that's unanimous.

1:05:48Thank you very much.

1:05:50Is there any other announcements under that?

1:05:54There's none for me, but nope, okay.

1:05:57I'll start at the screen this time.

1:05:59Who wants to move adjournment?

1:06:02That would be Alt, seconded by Klassen.

1:06:05Is there anyone against adjournment?

1:06:08Nobody, that's unanimous too.

1:06:10Thank you very much, everyone.

1:06:12That should make our council meeting really fast, right?

1:06:15Ha ha ha ha ha, you'd think.

1:06:18All right, I will see everyone at the council meeting

1:06:21and have a good rest of the night.

1:06:23Take care.