GFOABC Dollars & Sense – March 2023 - Issue 122

INSIDE

What Happens When Ethics Go Off the Rails?

Member Spotlight: Mallory Denniston

ESG Standards are Coming, and CPAs are Responding

“WITH SPRING AROUND THE CORNER, WE STILL FIND OURSELVES IN THE THICK OF BUSY SEASON. LOOKING BEYOND THIS BUSY TIME OF YEAR, THERE ARE MANY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES THAT GFOABC WILL BE OFFERING TO OUR MEMBERS THAT YOU CAN BEGIN PLANNING FOR.”

In April we will be offering Property Tax 101 as a virtual 3-part workshop series. This is a great learning opportunity for new and senior finance professionals to prepare their teams for property tax collection. Professional development opportunities will also be offered, as in previous years, before the annual conference.

We are looking forward to hosting our members in Whistler, BC the week of May 29 to June 2, 2023, for pre-conference professional development sessions and the annual conference. This year’s conference theme is on Creating a Culture of Collaboration, Leading with Purpose. This conference will provide finance professionals with tools and concepts for offering leadership through collaboration.

I truly believe that to be a successful financial leader, it is essential to cultivate a strong team through collaboration. It is important to gain and share knowledge across the

organization to maximize leadership overall. I am very much looking forward to attending this conference!

As financial leaders we are recognizing several challenges facing our local governments such as aging infrastructure, climate change, community growth, high inflation, and employee retention to name a few. It is important to develop leadership strategies to meet these challenges.

Strengthened by the Leadership Competency Framework developed in collaboration with our members, GFOABC will be reintroducing the Strategic Financial Leadership program in 2023. The first group of participants will take part in a two day in-person session leading into the conference on May 29 and 30, with close out of the program at the 2024 conference in Kamloops. I look forward to hearing from the members that are taking part in this program.

As this is my last message a President, I want to take a moment to thank the Board for their support

during my tenure. It was an honour to serve as President for our members and to collaborate with such talented and motivated individuals. I will always value and look back fondly at my time on the board. It was an experience where I gained significant knowledge and insight into being a strong leader in my field. Thank you all for believing in me and for allowing me to take on this very important role to represent GFOABC

Nyla Attiana, GFOABC President

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Nyla Attiana, President

Rianna Lachance, Vice President

Talitha Soldera, Secretary-Treasurer

Lorraine Coughlin, Past President

DIRECTORS AT LARGE

Julia Aspinall, City of Vancouver

Shelley Hahn, MFABC

Elio Iorio, District of North Vancouver

Lenora Lee, KPMG

GFOABC STAFF

Kala Harris, Executive Director

Stephanie Kast, Manager, Professional Development & Education

Jason Tollman, Manager, Member Services & Communications

Otto&Fran, (www.ottoandfran.com) Graphic Design Services

“HERE IN VICTORIA, SPRING IS BEGINNING TO, WELL, SPRING! CHERRY BLOSSOMS ARE BLOOMING, BIRDS ARE SINGING, AND WE ARE BUSY PUTTING SOME OF THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON OUR CONFERENCE PLAN.”

This year’s conference, LEADING WITH PURPOSE: Building a Culture of Collaboration, will be held in person at the beautiful Fairmont Chateau Whistler and online from May 31 to June 2.

The conference sessions will kick off with a keynote presentation by Jon Montgomery, Olympic Gold Medalist and Host of The Amazing Race Canada. Many will not be surprised to learn that to achieve Olympic glory, you need to really, really want it, but you also don’t do it alone. Jon will share his experience in the place where he achieved Olympic legend status.

We continue the conversation on the future of work with Hilary Curry, People & Change Practice Lead for KPMG. Hilary will follow up on her presentation from last year on the employee value proposition (EVP) as an important consideration for attracting and retaining talent. This year she will tell us why building a skills-based workforce will be a dominant factor in the future of work. Hilary will then join a follow-on panel discussion on the leadership imperative for local government finance professionals.

We have also added a muchrequested ethics session to our

conference program this year. This panel session will be a case study and dialogue. The session will include Jervis Rodrigues, Partner and Senior Vice-President of Financial Advisory Services for BDO, and a former local government guest to discuss findings from a recent BC local government forensic audit. This session will be informative, interactive, and not to be missed.

We have the Collectors’ Forum, Investing & Banking Forum, and the Small Communities’ Forum, all back in the program by popular demand. These forums along with more than twenty-five other sessions offer something for everyone on the finance team.

This year’s focus group will seek input from members on our current strategic plan, this plan ends next year in May 2024. Input from this session will inform the development of our 2024-2029 Strategic Plan. We are looking for twenty members for this focus group—please keep your eyes on your inboxes for an RSVP invitation.

The pre-conference program provides another professional development opportunity whether you are planning to attend the conference or not. This year’s program includes sessions on asset management, financial indicators, ethics & leadership, municipal tax sale, and a day for regional districts co-facilitated by Tina Perreault from the Sunshine Coast Regional District and Stephen Banmen from the North Okanagan Regional District.

We look forward to welcoming you to Whistler!

Kala Harris, GFOABC Executive Director

EARLY BIRD PRICING ENDS MARCH 31 REGISTER NOW

The 2023 Annual Conference will be held at the beautiful Fairmont Chateau Whistler in Whistler, BC, from May 31 – June 2, 2023. This conference will explore key topics impacting local governments, and the leadership role that finance plays in building strategic partnerships across their teams, organizations, and within their communities.

Our Welcome Reception will invite members to be leaders in guiding our GFOABC strategic plan for the next five years. Please join us for a drink and conversation that will be fun and creative. This facilitated session will collect your thoughts to inform the strategic planning breakfast session on the GFOABC strategic plan. Participation will not be required, but we hope the topics and the collaboration will tempt you. Learn more here

The early morning session, supported by caffeine and breakfast, will use the collaboration from the Welcome Session as the starting point to leap from. We ask members to be creators and advisors for the next strategic plan. Join us and see how you can impact the path forward.

KEYNOTES ANNOUNCED

NEW COURSE: ALIGN YOUR FINANCIAL AND ASSET MANAGEMENT PLANS

PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE GFOABC PRE-CONFERENCE COURSE “INTEGRATING ASSET MANAGEMENT INTO YOUR LONG-TERM FINANCIAL PLAN”.

This course was developed with support from the Union of BC Municipalities and in cooperation with Asset Management BC. This workshop will be led by Christopher Paine, CPA, CGA, Principle, FIT Local Government Consultant and the Director of Finance and Asset Management for the District of Oak Bay. The workshop includes two remote pre-conference sessions and culminates in person on May 29 in Whistler.

Local Governments (LG) are the stewards of most of the public infrastructure in Canada1. Our infrastructure funding strategies have a huge impact on sustainable service delivery. Ignoring the longterm impact of current infrastructure decisions will compress the financial burden on future generations. An LG can only avoid the financial implications of infrastructure

maintenance and replacement initially. Eventually infrastructure lifecycle costs are incurred. An LG who invests proactively from the beginning of infrastructure lifecycle will reap the benefits.

Take for instance an organization who chooses to set aside funds for the replacement of its assets from year 0. Such an organization can offset required tax funding by upwards of 60% by leveraging investment returns.

This example uses a conservate return on investment assumption: 2%. Now consider the possibilities if and organization invests in one of the Municipal Finance Authority’s higher yielding funds such as the mortgage fund currently yielding nearly 6%2. Proactive funding also promotes intergenerational funding equity and helps to mitigate the impact of inflation.

This course demonstrates how a CFO can align their LG’s Asset Management financial realities with its current Financial Plan in seven simple Modules:

(1)Introduction,

(2)Data Collection,

(3)Core Calculations,

(4)Modelling,

(5)Developing Funding Options,

(6)Sensitivity Analysis, and

(7)Communicating Findings.

The course materials include:

(1)a manual,

(2)course exercises,

(3)a Long Term Financial Plan for Asset Management Template, and other materials.

Asset Management, you can’t run from it anymore, so come join our workshop!

1 It is widely cited that Local Governments own more than 60% of public infrastructure (Infrastructure Canada and Federation of Canadian Municipalities for instance.

2 Published Yields February 23, 2023 by Municipal Finance Authority.

CHRIS PAINE , CPA, CGA is the Principal of FIT Local Government Consulting with over 15 years of local government experience in finance and is currently serving as the Chief Financial Officer for the District of Oak Bay. Christopher has earned his Professional Certificate in Infrastructure Financial Management through the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia and has led the development of several infrastructure replacement funding plans. He has received Awards of Excellence from the Union of BC Municipalities, GFOA US & Canada, and GFOABC for his work with the City of Colwood’s Sustainable Infrastructure Replacement Plan.

ALLISON IS THE DIRECTOR OF SUSTAINABILITY AT THE MUNICIPAL FINANCE AUTHORITY OF BC (MFA).

ALLISON’S BACKGROUND MARRIES THE SUBJECT MATTER AND CONTEXT EXPERTISE OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT WITH A CPA’S COMPETENCY IN AUDIT AND ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES.

ALLISON IS LEADING MFA’S DEVELOPMENT OF MEANINGFUL AND CREDIBLE ESG REPORTING TO ITS MULTIPLE STAKEHOLDERS.

I certainly feel I’ve hit the trifecta becoming MFA’s new Director of Sustainability at this tipping point moment for ESG performance standards and integrated reporting frameworks. Originally a CPA who worked in audit and accounting for over 10 years, I pivoted to work in the municipal climate and sustainability space across Canada. I began as a ‘senior environmental planner’ at the City of Victoria in 2009, when climate and sustainability were new functions in local government. The portfolio was emergent and ill-defined and there was little precedence or resources for the municipal context. My few peers in other cities were usually urban planners or environmental specialists, and my CPA background was often seen as incongruent.

I thought my audit and accounting training prepared me well to:

• Establish a strong internal control environment for assessing existing processes and making continuous improvements through evaluation and monitoring.

• Apply GAAP’s requirements for the provenance and presentation of information by ensuring it is complete, accurate, reliable, relevant and objective.

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Despite the best of intentions and many pledged commitments, progress on climate action and sustainable development is relatively flat and certainly not at the scale or pace of what is required. Driven historically by a policy response from governments to UN global frameworks and calls to action on climate, biodiversity, Indigenous rights, and the SDG’s, we are now seeing movement to meet the demands of the global capital market for:

• integration and alignment of standards, practices and actors, and

• integrity in reporting of progress and impact towards these commitments.

WHY NOW, AND WHAT MIGHT THIS LOOK LIKE IN THE MUNICIPAL CONTEXT?

The financial, natural, and human costs arising from the global public health pandemic, significant flooding and wildfire claims and insured losses, as well as the impact to human health and loss of life resulting from unprecedented heat domes, atmospheric rivers, etc. are no longer hypothetical and future projected. Vulnerability and exposure to infrastructure, people, and property is present and material today. IBC losses

STAKEHOLDERS CALL FOR INTEGRATION, IMPACT, AND INTEGRITY IN REPORTING: ESG STANDARDS ARE COMING, AND CPAS ARE RESPONDING

Municipal finance professionals are stepping into the climate and sustainability realm to establish or integrate climate and sustainability processes within their organizations through asset management, emergency preparedness, and land use planning. Existing accounting rules require disclosure of probable and estimated contingent liabilities (physical or legal) as well as asset write-downs for damaged or stranded assets.

Municipal TCFD resources and examples

Investors are demanding more holistic performance reporting so they can perform risk assessment of an enterprise to ensure alignment of their values and commitments (i.e. net zero targets). Integrated, sustainability and ESG performance reporting has historically been voluntary, inconsistently applied and nonuniform, leading many to question its quality and integrity. A rapid consolidation of global standards and frameworks, through standard-setting bodies for sustainability and climate disclosures, has taken place over the last year. As of June 2023, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) will publish their final standards for general sustainability and climate-related reporting, to take effect beginning in fiscal year 2024 within those jurisdictions that adopt the standards. ISSB exposure draft standards

This latter trend doesn’t just impact large cities like Vancouver and Toronto who issue their own municipal bonds; the demand for ESG reporting from investors and rating agencies has the potential to impact MFA’s access to capital and low cost borrowing available to every local government in BC.

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MY WORK AT MFA

When not getting to know MFA’s staff and members over my first two months, I’ve been feverishly reading up on ESG trends and emerging standards for the financial sector to better understand the evolving expectations of MFA’s investors for relevant, material, and decision-useful disclosures on:

• the impact of MFA’s activities on the environment and society (along MFA’s value chain),

• the impact of sustainability and climate-related risks and opportunities on MFA’s value and performance (MFA’s value creation).

While MFA’s direct carbon footprint is very small, our core business activities (lending and investing) have significant and material impacts on greenhouse gases and climate resilience and living within the planetary thresholds of these vital capitals.

To satisfy the emerging expectations of credit rating agencies, bondholders, institutional investors and asset managers, MFA will collect and report meaningful information on the material activities (and use of loan proceeds) by local governments. We will take an integrated, systems-based approach by leveraging existing reporting on critical infrastructure, asset management,

general financial statistics and climate action and risk assessments reported by our members to the Provincial and Federal government.

Like asset management, ESG is a process, not an outcome or a report, which will evolve and strengthen over time. I look forward to working with you all to advance our collective capacity for implementing various aspects of the ISSB’s climate and sustainability reporting standards.

ALLISON ASHCROFT is the Director of Sustainability at the Municipal Finance Authority of BC. Allison’s background marries the subject matter and context expertise of climate change and local government with a CPA’s competency in audit and accounting systems and processes. Allison is leading MFA’s development of meaningful and measured ESG reporting.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ETHICS GO OFF THE RAILS?

ETHICS CONTINUES TO BE AT THE FOREFRONT OF ISSUES FACING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. WITH THE ABUNDANCE OF PUBLICLY SHARED INFORMATION AND PUBLIC SCRUTINY, QUESTIONS OF ETHICS OFTEN ARISE, DESPITE THE DIFFICULTY IN AGREEING ON A DEFINITION OR CONSISTENCY IN ASSIGNING VALUES TO WHAT APPROPRIATE ETHICS ARE.

As a society, we continually teach and scrutinize ethics, explicitly and implicitly, without really knowing or agreeing what it is. We teach ethics when we teach our children right from wrong. As a CPA, I teach my students how to get to the proper conclusion when examining evidence. But why is it that if we can break down ethics to be a simple concept in every-day situations, it is at the same time complex to break down in a local government?

Whether you are an elected official, senior management, or a unionized member within a local government, you are constantly making decisions that to some degree influence how to spend the money of your ratepayers. What I think is a good use of money will probably differ from my neighbour’s, and therein lies the challenge for local governments―everyone has a different view on what good value for money and use of tax dollars is.

As a start, legislation has been created to deal with:

• Conflicts of interest;

• Inside and outside influence;

• Exceptions from conflict restrictions;

• Gifts;

• Contracts; and

• Use of insider information.

If we look beyond what these specific guidelines look to achieve, ultimately they have one common thread― preventing an elected official or employee from gaining a financial advantage as a consequence of the office or

position they hold. Although lawyers are often charged with handling ethics, finance professionals in local government have an equally important role to play.

While suspected breaches of ethics make for interesting headlines, the damage goes much deeper when ethics go off the rails in the public sector. Ethical breaches cause a loss of trust and confidence with your stakeholders, and, more importantly, the issues often impact the whole organization, not just the person responsible for the breach. Further, when there are allegations of unethical behavior, the questions relating to value for money are sure to follow. For this reason, everyone has a duty to ensure that ethics are upheld within your organization.

Enforcing ethical behaviour is difficult, especially given that everyone has different values; however, it is not impossible. The key starts with creating an appropriate organizational culture of good behavior. Defining your organizational values, along with the expectations of appropriate stewardship of funds, is a key step in getting everyone within the organization aligned to what proper ethical behavior means. These values need to be guiding principles in the development of a code of conduct and code of ethics that define what behaviors are acceptable, along with a proper system of internal controls that will help prevent the opportunity for an ethical breach.

Ultimately, the journey to having a culture of ethics is on-going and is not simple, but it far outweighs the risks of doing nothing.

MARIO PIRODDI , CPA, CA, CISA is the BC Local Government Industry leader for BDO Canada LLP and an assurance partner based out of the Kamloops office. While Mario is an auditor by trade, he is passionate about helping communities across the province through working with local governments to help build capacity, transparency and public trust.

THE WAY YOU PURCHASE GROUP BENEFITS INFLUENCES HOW MUCH YOUR PLAN COSTS

EVERY GROUP INSURANCE PROGRAM INCLUDES OPERATING COSTS. SOME EXAMPLES OF THESE ACTIVITIES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

• Claims adjudication according to the terms of the plan (typically an insurance carrier completes this function).

• An insurance carrier providing some element of insurance (varies depending on underwriting arrangement).

• Creating and maintaining plan documents (Booklets and Contracts).

• Service representatives to assist members and administrators with their inquiries (either through a broker or directly with the insurance carrier).

• Financial analysis of your plan for renewal rating purposes.

If you purchase coverage through a broker or directly with an insurance carrier, the total operating costs are funded by your plan on its own. These costs are sometimes added explicitly (for self-insured arrangements) or implicitly through the financial terms under your policy (for insured arrangements).

You can reduce the operating costs of your group benefit plan by working alongside other organizations and purchasing coverage through a pooled arrangement. By purchasing alongside other groups, you share operating costs amongst a greater member base, and ultimately reduce your plan’s portion through economies of scale. This strategy enables small and mid-sized organizations the ability to purchase coverage according to similar terms that are enjoyed by larger groups.

In addition to reducing the operating costs under your plan, a pooled arrangement can also have the following advantages:

• Providers are more receptive to offering customized services due to the size of the existing contract. For example, the UBCM Benefit Plan has a Performance

Standards Agreement with their insurance carrier (Pacific Blue Cross) which outlines the service timelines that their participating groups will receive under the Plan. Participating members therefore receive superior service that is measured and managed over time. These groups would not be able to obtain these terms on their own outside of the pool.

• A pooled arrangement can also provide access to subject matter experts such as pharmacists, actuaries, lawyers, and disability management experts. A Plan Sponsor could engage these individuals under broker or direct models, however, doing so under a pooled arrangement as part of a broader initiative helps to reduce costs given the fees can be spread out over multiple Plan Sponsors who have similar needs.

Pooled arrangements reduce costs over the long term. That being said, they are not a “one size fits all” type of arrangement and the following considerations should be noted before joining a pool:

• Under most pooled arrangements, the choice of benefits provider (i.e., insurance carrier) is determined by the sponsor of the pool and is not chosen by the individual groups.

• Transparency is a common concern in the group benefits industry, but this can be exaggerated in some private sector pooled arrangements. If you participate in a pooled arrangement and are not aware of the financial terms, you should ask to ensure you are aware of the general process as to how your premium rates are established.

Read more about the UBCM Group Benefits plan here:

https://www.ubcm.ca/member-services/group-benefits-program.

This article has been drafted on behalf of the UBCM Benefits Plan, a collective of approximately 130 municipal and affiliated groups across British Columbia. If you have any questions about the Plan, please contact ELVIRA KHISMATULLINA (GroupBenefitsPlan@ubcm.ca) and we would be pleased to assist you.

THE FUTURE OF WORK

THIS YEAR’S GFOABC CONFERENCE WAS A WONDERFUL CHANCE TO RECONNECT WITH COLLEAGUES AND TACKLE SOME TOUGH TOPICS. MY PRESENTATION ON THE FUTURE OF WORK CENTERED ON ORGANIZATIONAL EMPLOYEE VALUE PROPOSITIONS (EVPS) AND THEIR IMPORTANCE ON ATTRACTING AND RETAINING TALENT. HERE ARE SOME TAKEAWAYS THAT I HOPE WILL SERVE AS CRITICAL REMINDERS AS YOU WORK TO DEVELOP OR ENHANCE YOUR OWN EVPS.

First of all, it’s important to acknowledge that “employee value proposition” isn’t some new age mumbo jumbo: research clearly shows that effective EVPs elevate the employee experience to levels comparable with customer experience—which has long been a key benchmark of organizational success. But it is a fresh way of understanding the meaning and value of work, and it means that things like diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is everyone’s responsibility.

In other words, today’s successful workplaces not only offer flexibility, personal growth and well-being—they’re also highly purpose-driven. These traits are becoming basic table stakes for any employer, as are their positions on environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters. It’s of no surprise, then, that the future of work is focused on the employer-employee social contract. In this light, your EVP will determine whether top talent wants to join your organization in the first place, the extent to which they will perform at their best, and whether they will stay with you.

It’s a qualitative shift, really. Instead of counting hours, you’re focusing on goals. Because there’s something else we have to face: employees are unwilling to return to the pre-COVID paradigm of vertical and hierarchical workplaces. That’s what the “Great Resignation” was all about. Today’s talent wants to operate on shared purpose—the ability not just to grow professionally but

also to have a positive impact on each other and their communities, and even the larger world we all share.

This also means that the focus is no longer wholly on the employee purely as employees. Leaders are understanding that traditional ways of communicating and engaging with their people isn’t working post-COVID. Authority is simply no longer conferred by virtue of a title but rather through the ability to connect genuinely and intentionally around a shared purpose where everyone contributes—and not merely according to the strict terms of their job descriptions and the hours they log.

Psychology has come a long way since its nascent beginnings in the late 1800s. One thing we’ve learned is that denying people choice is equivalent to hijacking their amygdala—the brain’s response to a threat. When we lack choice, our ability to interpret information accurately is shut down and all our modalities are focused on eliminating that threat. Choice, you might say, is everything.

The philosopher Jacques Derrida’s work in psychology encourages us to “think differently than we think.” The bottom line is therefore this: the future of work is about so much more than allowing employees to work from home. It’s about working with your people to build that future together.

DR. HILARY CURRY leads the People & Change Practice for KPMG in Vancouver. For over 20 years, she has been helping organizations navigate their people and organization challenges. Her approach to working with clients is based on her extensive experience working internally and she brings a common-sense cultural lens to real-world challenges.

“THINK DIFFERENTLY THAN YOU THINK” NAVIGATING

GFOABC ONLINE FORUMS

AS A GFOABC MEMBER, ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL TOOLS AT YOUR DISPOSAL IS OUR ONLINE FORUM.

Through the Online Forum, local government finance professionals can access an archive of information going back to 2016, ask or answer questions to and from fellow finance professionals, and share pertinent documents. We reached out to several GFOABC members who have made visiting and engaging with the forum a part of their day-to-day and will be sharing their takes over the course of the next four newsletters.

This quarter, we have Mike Olson

Director of Finance for the District of Hope. Prior to his role in Hope, Mike spent his time as a Controller within the manufacturing and construction industries, and has been a long suffering San Francisco 49ers fan.

Here are his answers to a few of our questions:

WHY DO YOU COME TO THE FORUM? IS LOGGING ON PART OF YOUR DAILY ROUTINE (LIKE CHECKING YOUR EMAIL)?

I come to the forum to find out about discussions that are currently happening in our industry. Being new to municipal government I use the forum as a place to see what people were saying were current issues. The theory of “you don’t know what you don’t know” applies to me. As a result, the forum is a place where I flag issues that I did not know were coming due or issues that others have been faced with that I may need to be concerned about.

My morning routine is to log on to the forum as one of the first things I do in the morning. I like to do this as it gives me a vibe for the day. Now, sometimes that vibe is I did not even know this was an issue, but it is a vibe none the less. Overall, I find this is a great way to start the day.

HOW DO YOU THINK EXPANDED ENGAGEMENT ON THE FORUM AMONG GFOABC MEMBERS CAN HELP THEM IN THEIR DAY TO DAY?

An expanded engagement on the forum amongst GFOABC members can only help people in their day to day. Engagement can come in a variety of forums in which people use the forum. I am for most the part the classic lurker. To be clear, lurking in a forum is still a very valuable engagement for someone who is new to their role and for those that are hesitant to post.

If we as group increased our overall access to the GFOABC forum we could truly leverage all of our knowledge and experience. I see how the community interacts on the board and see how positive it is and the depth of knowledge sharing that is there. Knowing how many people were at the AGM in June this year, I can tell that we have a lot of people who are silently lurking or not using the forum. If we can get more people to contribute, we will be able to hear from more voices which will be fantastic.

WHAT FEATURES OF THE FORUM DO YOU USE THE MOST (POSTING DISCUSSIONS, COMMENTING ON EXISTING DISCUSSIONS, SEARCHING THE DATABASE FOR INFORMATION ETC.)?

The area of the forum that I use the most is reviewing of the discussions, and searching the database for information. Logging in daily, gives me that feel for the current issues. As I have gone along, I am starting to post responses to people’s discussions as I want to enhance the discussion with my posts. By being more active, my goal is to help others, as there is no need for any of us to recreate something new when one of us has had to have seen the scenario that is being posted about.

The forum is a great resource for research. I use the search function to look for topics that I am currently dealing with. With the search function it enables searching through current and archived discussions. Although, I find the more current discussions the most relevant, there have been a couple of times where I have found information in an archived discussion to be very useful.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR PERSONAL BEST PRACTICES WHEN IT COMES TO ENGAGING ON THE FORUM?

Some of the best practices I find are as follows:

• Use a detailed discussion title, for example, with Permissive Tax Exemptions, there were many topics with the label Permissive Tax Exemption, but if the headline holds a little bit more detail, such as “Permissive Tax Exemptions vs Grant?” it enables users to easily see the topic. Essentially, I treat the Discussion Title as an email subject, making it clear and distinct.

• Use Tags for the discussion. For all of us who use social media, hashtags are a way of life in communication. In this instance, we can use hashtags to find discussions and make them easier to search. A good example of a popular tag on the forum is #propertytax

• Please provide a template or answer the query in the chat. There are a few times where people have asked for templates, and the responses are that they have emailed them off. This is great for the individual who asked the question, but for the inquiring minds that did not get the response, we can only imagine what was sent

• And finally, know that this is a safe place and any question is a good question.

Thank you to Mike for his contribution for this article and his ongoing engagement on the online forum. Look out for part three in our forum series coming out in March, where we’ll hear from another highly engaged forum member.

AI IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

In the early 2000s, when I entered the accounting profession, spreadsheets quickly became an indispensable tool. They enabled us to perform analysis that was virtually impossible to do manually, and computers proved to be superior to humans when it came to number crunching. It was clear that my value as a professional accountant would come from the “soft” skills – the technical policies, context, and interpretations that surrounded the numbers. Let the computer handle the numbers and us humans would take care of the communications.

Now, over 20 years later, we have a new tool that is poised to become just as indispensable for the “soft” stuff: artificial intelligence (AI) powered by large language models like Chat GPT, Bing, Bard, and others. While these language-focused AI models are still in their infancy, they have been trained using enormous databases of digitized written communication, such as books, reports, academic journals, memos, letters, news articles, blogs, and the internet. When you ask them a question, they predict the answer based on their training.

will thrive in the business world precisely because of the predictable nature of business communication.

In the end, the robots will not be held accountable; it will still be us humans who will receive praise or blame. The language AI will become an indispensable tool, just like the spreadsheet was to the calculator. Instead of spending hours creating a first draft of a technical memo, you will be able to do it in minutes. This new process will require fewer people to perform the same tasks as before. But just like the spreadsheet, we will soon be able to do things with technology that were previously unimaginable.

Business communications are highly predictable and use templates, generic tone, and concise wording to avoid misinterpretation. As it turns out, accountants, finance professionals, and lawyers, have spent countless hours perfecting text that ultimately reads like a robot generated it. We can’t afford the risks associated with being creative in business and legal documents. Language AI models

UMAR SAEED is a Partner at Welch LLP in Toronto and widely recognized as an expert in public sector accounting. In this regard, he speaks regularly at conferences and lectures on related topics.

“BY THE END OF 2023, A COMMUNICATION GENERATED WITHOUT AI WILL BE THE EQUIVALENT OF AN ACCOUNTANT USING A CALCULATOR TO MANUALLY CRUNCH NUMBERS. IN A RECENT PRESENTATION (LINK), I DEMONSTRATED HOW AI CAN DRAFT A COMMUNICATION OF YOUR CHOICE IN A MATTER OF SECONDS.”

Clearview Township replaces vehicles and saves

on acquisition costs.

Stayner, ON, Canada • Government | Township • 39 vehicles

THE CHALLENGE

Clearview Township needed to improve the management of their aging fleet vehicles and reduce costs. The pandemic presented budgeting constraints impacting the township’s ability to replace vehicles.

THE SOLUTION

Clearview Township partnered with Enterprise Fleet Management, which was referred by an affinity program with the LAS and the Canoe Procurement Group. The Enterprise team presented a proactive vehicle replacement plan to build fleet equity, also incorporating a vehicle maintenance program to reduce administrative strain on the township.

When the Enterprise Fleet Management program was introduced to the Township of Clearview, there was some skepticism on my part, ‘how can we turn our entire light duty fleet over in just 1 year?’ Our Enterprise team has strategically demonstrated how the fleet program works and its impact to the township. Faced with vehicles at various ages and high mileage, this was an easy way to modernize our fleet and lower maintenance and capital costs. The township now has a long-term plan to continually modernize the fleet to provide excellent service to our community.”

– Dan Perreault, Dep. Director of Public Works

KEY RESULTS

Average fleet age improved by

7 YEARS

OVER

THE RESULTS

VEHICLE RESALE VALUE OVER

$200K

$125K IN ACQUISITION SAVINGS

Through the Enterprise Fleet Management plan, Clearview Township was able to recognize over $200,000 in acquisition savings while also unlocking over $120,000 in vehicle resale equity. Because vehicles are replaced more frequently, the average age of the fleet has improved by 7 model years, and the average odometer reading improved by 90%. Enterprise’s proactive strategy long-term will help the township improve cash flow and provide peace of mind for their employees and vehicles through the effective management of maintenance, fuel, and depreciation costs.

$200,000

MALLORY DENNISTON

FOR THIS QUARTERLY MEMBER SPOTLIGHT, GFOABC WOULD LIKE TO CELEBRATE MALLORY DENNISTON FROM THE CITY OF POWELL RIVER.

Mallory was recently recognized by CPABC as one of three early career achievers with the Early Achievement Award for 2022. The article and coffee chat podcast highlight her accomplishments since becoming designated in 2013.

Mallory initially served at Catalyst Paper as an analyst, and currently holds the Chief Financial Officer role at the City of Powell River. In her time at the City, she has successfully guided essential civic projects during times of economic challenge

and has championed continuous improvements in practice across the areas of financial reporting, engagement, financial software, and human resources.

Along with her dedication and commitment to bettering practices in her work role at the City of Powell River, Mallory has been providing her strategic financial expertise as the director-at-large for the Bruce Denniston Bone Marrow Society.

Congratulations to Mallory for this well-deserved recognition. Our entire GFOABC community thanks you for your service and for being a prime example of how to build a career through passion, fairness, and hard work.

IF THERE IS SOMEONE IN YOUR ORGANIZATION THAT YOU’D LIKE TO RECOGNIZE IN THE JUNE MEMBER SPOTLIGHT, LET US KNOW. Contact office@gfoabc.ca.

UTILITY BILLING DISCOUNTS VS. PENALTIES

Penalties charged for late payment of Utility Bills:

• 75% of local governments reported penalizing customers for late payment.

• Penalties reported a range of 2-10% with an average of 6.89% and a median of 5%.

• The number of days before a penalty is imposed ranges from 21 to 273 days with an average of 66 days and a mean of 42 days

Discounts offered for prompt payment of Utility Bills:

• 31% of local governments reporting offer a discount for early payment.

• Discounts range from 2% to 25% with an average discount of 9.3% and median of 10%.

• The number of days a discount is offered from the billing date ranges from 15 to 75 days, with the average number of days the discount is offered at 39.5 days and a median of 30 days.

• An average of 79% of customers take advantage of the discount with a median of 80% and a range of 35% to 95%.

• Delinquent payees past the penalty date range from 1-50% of customers, with an average of 14% and median of 15%.

Back-billing Policies:

• 23% of local governments reported having a policy for back-billing

• Procedures ranged from current year only to 2 years backdated billing.

THE NEXT QUARTERLY QUESTION TOPIC: SHORT TERM RENTALS

Please use this link to be a contributor: https://q.surveypal.com/ Quarterly-Question-March-2023-Issue---Short-Term-Rentals

This short survey should only take 5-7 minutes to complete.

If you would like to contribute topics for upcoming questions, please contact office@gfoabc.ca or call (250) 382-6871.

For detailed results for this question or any past question, please contact surveys@civicinfo.bc.ca.

WE ASKED LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ACROSS BC ABOUT HOW THEY HANDLE UTILITY BILLING. WE HAD 26% OF BC LOCAL GOVERNMENTS REPORT ON THEIR PRACTICE. THE SUMMARY BELOW REFLECTS THOSE RESPONSES.

Collector’s Corner:

TAX SALE – WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?

At the January Collectors’ Forum webinar, Michael Moll, lawyer, CivicLegal LLP and I gave the presentation “Tax Sales for Financial Officers – Selected Legal Issues”. The tax sale process is governed by legislation which has been further interpreted by quite a few legal cases. Also, in December 2021 the Office of the Ombudsperson issued the report “A Bid For Fairness”.

As we know, tax sale is serious business since it could result in someone losing their property for unpaid property taxes. This is reinforced by the case Gray v Langley Township (1986) where the judge stated “The intention of the legislation was to make tax sales final notwithstanding defects in procedure.” An example of a defect in procedure is making a manifest error in the process before or at the tax sale, in which case LGA S668 states that Council has the authority to cancel the tax sale. Also, according to S666 the owner of a tax sale property may bring an action in court to have the tax sale set aside and declared invalid on certain grounds. But recent court cases have muddied the waters in that maybe tax sale isn’t so final. In the 521006 B.C. Ltd. v. Pemberton (Village), 2019 case the court held that an owner could still commence an action for declaratory relief finding the tax sale to be invalid. And in the Maple Ridge (Re), 2020 case the municipality used judicial review to invalidate a tax sale.

In addition to the legal cases, Michael discussed the Ombudsperson’s recommendations that pre-tax sale notices be sent to property owners, the pros and cons of an increased minimum upset price, and the impact of delaying filing notice of non-redemption. In summary, local governments are increasingly expected to go beyond statutory requirements, changes and guidance are expected, and the risks and uncertainties of nonredemption justify efforts to improve the chances of redemption.

So, what does the future hold? At the time of this writing the Province hadn’t responded to the recommendations. However, a couple of points were made at the Collectors’ Forum:

• The Ministry hoped to meet with the Ombudsperson by the end of January for comment on the Ministry’s responses. When comments are received, the Ministry’s responses will be posted on the website and forwarded to the tax sale working group.

• The recommendation for a legislated pre-tax sale notification has been approved. At the time of writing this writing, the legislation (BILL 3 – 2023 MISCELLANEOUS STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT, 2023) has been introduced and no doubt will receive Royal Assent by the time this article is published. At this time it is unsure if this requirement will be applicable for the 2023 tax sale.

• Collectors are not expected to determine if a person is vulnerable. There is no clear definition of “vulnerable”.

• The suggestion to improve public education on tax sales (e.g. lawyers, Ministry of Municipal Affairs) was unanimously supported by all.

So, what does the future hold for tax sale? We’ll have to wait and see. Thank you to GFOABC for keeping us informed on this and the other financial issues facing municipal finance officers. Stay tuned and in the meantime, be careful, be diligent – tax sale may not be so final.

DOUG STEIN has worked in municipal finance for over 30 years. In 2011 he retired from his position as Manager of Revenue Services for the District of Saanich. Doug leads the Collectors’ Forum, is a GFOABC Life Member, and a CPA, CMA.

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office@gfoabc.ca • (250) 382-6871