AGENDA - Finance Advisory Committee - 20170322Finance
Advisory Committee
Meeting Agenda
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
5:30 p.m.
Leksand Room
Aurora Town Hall
Public Release
March 15, 2017
Town of Aurora
Finance Advisory Committee
Meeting Agenda
Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Time and Location: 5:30 p.m., Holland Room, Aurora Town Hall
1.Approval of the Agenda
Recommended:
That the agenda as circulated by Legislative Services be approved.
2. Declarations of Pecuniary Interest and General Nature Thereof
3.Receipt of the Minutes
Finance Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes of February 22, 2017
Recommended:
That the Finance Advisory Committee meeting minutes of Februrary 22, 2017, be
received for information.
4.Delegations
5.Consideration of Items
Finance Advisory Committee Meeting Agenda
Wednesday, March 22, 2017 Page 2 of 2
1.Review of Financial Information – Planning and Building Services (PBS)
Re: (1) Line by Line Analysis
(2)Long-term Development Activity Forecasting
(3)Other Areas of Focus
(detailed explanation of highlighted items to be distributed at meeting)
Recommended:
1.That the comments and suggestions of the Review of Financial
Information – Planning and Building Services (PBS) be referred to staff for
consideration and action as appropriate.
2.Review of Town’s Current Schedule of Reserve Funds as of December
31, 2016
Recommended:
1.That the comments and suggestions of the Review of Town’s Current
Schedule of Reserve Funds as of December 31, 2016 be referred to staff
for consideration and action as appropriate.
6.New Business
7.Adjournment
Town of Aurora
Finance Advisory Committee
Meeting Minutes
Date: Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Time and Location: 5:30 p.m., Leksand Room, Aurora Town Hall
Committee Members: Councillor Michael Thompson (Chair), Councillor Harold Kim
(arrived 5:47 p.m.), and Mayor Geoffrey Dawe
Member(s) Absent: None
Other Attendees: Councillor Tom Mrakas, Doug Nadorozny, Chief Administrative
Officer, Dan Elliott, Director of Financial Services/Treasurer,
Jason Gaertner, Manager, Financial Planning, Stephanie
Mackenzie-Smith, Manager of Corporate Communications,
Karen Oreto, Financial Analyst, Tracy Evans, Financial Analyst,
Budget, and Linda Bottos, Council/Committee Secretary
The Chair called the meeting to order at 5:45 p.m.
1.Declaration of Pecuniary Interest and General Nature Thereof
There were no declarations of pecuniary interest under the Municipal Conflict of
Interest Act.
2.Approval of the Agenda
Moved by Mayor Dawe
Seconded by Councillor Thompson
That the agenda as circulated by Legislative Services be approved.
Carried
Finance Advisory Committee Meeting Agenda
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Minutes
Page 1 of 4
Finance Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, February 22, 2017 Page 2 of 4
3.Receipt of the Minutes
Finance Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes of January 25, 2017
Moved by Mayor Dawe
Seconded by Councillor Thompson
That the Finance Advisory Committee meeting minutes of January 25, 2017, be
received for information.
Carried
4.Delegations
None
5.Consideration of Items
1.Revised 2017 Work Plan for Finance Advisory Committee
Staff highlighted the revisions and the Committee requested staff to ensure
that the Work Plan continues to capture any Council suggestions for items to
be reviewed by the Finance Advisory Committee.
Moved by Mayor Dawe
Seconded by Councillor Kim
1.That the Revised 2017 Work Plan for Finance Advisory Committee be
received; and
2.That the Revised 2017 Work Plan for Finance Advisory Committee be
approved.
Carried
2.Draft Report No. FS17-006 – 2018 Town of Aurora Budget Workplan
Staff reviewed the draft report, including the Budget Workplan and proposed
“Pre-Budget” and “In-Year” Funding Request or Other Budget Input forms, and
noted that the forms were created in order to formalize the process and
facilitate funding requests and budget input from external stakeholders. The
Committee expressed support of the report and concepts, and suggested that
the Funding Request or Other Budget Input forms be reworked in order to
Finance Advisory Committee Meeting Agenda
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Minutes
Page 2 of 4
Finance Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, February 22, 2017 Page 3 of 4
include criteria and capture greater detail from the requester. Staff was also
asked to ensure alignment with the Town’s Procedure By-law.
Ms. Mackenzie-Smith provided a presentation on public stakeholder engagement
budget input tools, including an overview of the challenges and usage of the
existing Citizen Budget Survey tool, possible improvements, use of sliders and
ranking, other options, and next steps. The Committee noted that engaging
citizens is a major challenge and discussed various solutions. The Committee
approved the proposed next steps and staff agreed to report back to the
Committee on the comparative costs of the discussed options for the functionality
and content of a budget input tool.
Moved by Councillor Kim
Seconded by Mayor Dawe
1.That Draft Report No. FS17-006 be received; and
2.That the Finance Advisory Committee endorse the proposed 2018 Town of
Aurora Budget Workplan.
Carried
3.Consideration of a Separate Fire Services Line in the Tax Bill
The Committee acknowledged that the Fire Services budget represents
approximately 25% of the tax levy, over which the Town does not have direct
control, and agreed to explore the concept of a separate Fire Services line.
Moved by Mayor Dawe
Seconded by Councillor Kim
1.That staff be directed to communicate with Town of Newmarket staff
regarding the establishment of a separate Fire Services line in the tax bill.
Carried
4.Distribution and Introduction of Detailed Financial Information
Re: Planning and Building Services (PBS)
Staff distributed the line-by-line analysis of the final approved 2017 budget for
PBS (consolidated and by division) to the Committee, and advised that further
information and explanations would be provided for the highlighted items.
Finance Advisory Committee Meeting Agenda
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Minutes
Page 3 of 4
Finance Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, February 22, 2017 Page 4 of 4
Moved by Councillor Kim
Seconded by Mayor Dawe
1.That the detailed financial information for PBS be received and referred for
discussion and detailed review at the March 22, 2017 meeting of the
Finance Advisory Committee.
Carried
5.General Discussion by Committee
Re: Topics of Focus for PBS Review
Moved by Mayor Dawe
Seconded by Councillor Kim
1.That the comments and suggestions of the discussion regarding Topics of
Focus for PBS Review be referred to staff for consideration and action as
appropriate.
Carried
6.New Business
Councillor Kim inquired about the possibility of staff providing a running tally of
Development Charges (DC) revenues. Staff advised that an assessment of DC
reserve health has been historically provided as part of the Ten-Year Capital
Investment Plan. Staff also indicated that they are presently performing a more in-
depth analysis of the Town’s long-term growth projections, which will be integrated
into the DC health analysis included with the 2017 Ten-Year Capital Investment
Plan.
7. Adjournment
Moved by Councillor Kim
Seconded by Mayor Dawe
That the meeting be adjourned at 6:51 p.m.
Carried
Committee recommendations are not binding on the Town unless adopted by Council at a
later meeting.
Finance Advisory Committee Meeting Agenda
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Minutes
Page 4 of 4
Town of Aurora
SCHEDULE OF RESERVE FUNDS
Shown in $000's
Bylaw or Schedule Reference
Closing Estimated
Balance As of
December 31, 2016
A. Reserves for Existing Infrastructure
Infrastructure Sustainability (Repair & Replacement)
Tax Rate Funded
Roads & Related R & R RR1 $2,847.8
Federal Gas Tax Reserve RR2 $1,164.4
Facilities R & R RR3 $831.6
Fleet R & R RR4 $1,354.8
Parks & Rec R & R RR5 $2,046.5
Information Technology R & R RR6 $250.6
Discretionary R & R RR7 ($284.3)
Emerald Ash Borer Remediation R & R RR11 99.8
St Max Artificial Turf RR12 $163.8
Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund (OCIF)RR13 -
Total Tax Rate Funded Infrastructure Sustainability Reserves $8,474.9
Utility Rate Funded
Water RR8 $4,280.7
Wastewater RR9 $515.5
Stormwater RR10 $4,091.7
Total Utility Rate Funded Infrastructure Sustainability Reserves $8,887.9
Total Infrastructure Sustainability Reserves $17,362.8
B. Reserves for New Infrastructure
Development Charges Reserve Funds By-law 5585-14
General Government ($711.5)
Fire Services $503.8
Park Development ($2,376.8)
Indoor Recreation $3,713.8
Library Services $3,797.3
Municipal Parking Services $327.9
Roads & Related $7,539.5
Water $1,212.6
Sewers $1,825.6
Total Development Charges $15,832.2
Engineering Inspections Fees UR2 $2,385.6
Landscape Inspection Fees UR3 $2,070.7
Growth & New Capital Reserve NI1 ($82.1)
Studies & Other Capital Reserve NI2 $1,178.0
Dev/Sale of Municipal Lands NI3 ($7.6)
Cash in Lieu of Parkland NI4 $4,444.8
Cash in Lieu of Parking NI5 $78.2
Parks New Capital NI6 $626.6
Community Benefit Fee NI7 $1,885.3
Total New Infrastructure Reserves $28,411.6
Finance Advisory Committee Meeting Agenda
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Item 2
Page 1 of 2
C. Reserve Funds for Special Purposes
Stabilization
Tax Rate Stabilization S1 $4,323.8
Election Reserve S2 $226.4
WSIB S3 $733.7
Debt Deferral (internal borrowing) Library S4 ($1,029.7)
Building Department - Bill 124 UR1 $4,145.9
Total Stabilization Reserves $8,400.0
Other Special Purposes Accounts
Trails Donations SP1 $4.4
Green Initiatives SP2 ($23.2)
Heritage Fund SP3 $247.2
Arts & Culture SP4 $51.5
Public Art SP5 $0.0
Parks & Rec Participant Sponsorship SP6 $26.8
Cenotaph Restoration SP7 $3.6
Recreation Sponsorships SP8 $45.5
John West Memorial Scholarship Award SP9 $28.7
Hydro Sale Investment Reserve Fund By-law 5439-12 $36,336.3
Council Discretionary Reserve Fund By-law 5440-12 $1,019.6
Total Other Special Purposes $37,740.5
Total Special Purposes Reserves $46,140.5
D. CENTRAL YORK FIRE SERVICES MANAGED RESERVE FUNDS
Fire Services - General $159.4
Fire Services - Asset Replacement $363.9
Total CYFS Managed Reserve Funds $523.4
E. LIBRARY MANAGED RESERVE FUNDS
Library Managed R & R LIB1 $419.0
Library Donation & Bequests LIB2 $26.6
Total Library Managed Reserve Funds $445.5
Finance Advisory Committee Meeting Agenda
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Item 2
Page 2 of 2