Agenda of Finance Policy Committee

Finance Policy Committee 1 November 2016

2.1 Minutes of the Audit and Risk Management Committee - 30 September 2016

TRIM REFERENCE: 2016/2527

AUTHOR: Kathy Woolley, Director Corporate and Commercial Services

EXECUTIVE Summary

The Audit and Risk Management Committee met on 30 September 2016 and the minutes of that meeting are provided to the Finance Policy Committee for adoption.

Link To Delivery/OPerational Plan

The recommendation in this report relates to the Delivery/Operational Plan strategy “1.3 Our City - Ensure a robust framework that supports the community’s and Council’s current and evolving activities, services and functions”.

Financial Implications

Council has been advised that as a council included in the NSW Government’s merger proposals under consideration by the Office of Local Government since referral on 6 January 2016, Council must comply with the merger proposal period guidelines issued under S23A of the Local Government Act 1993.

The guidelines instruct Council it should expend money in accordance with the detailed budget adopted for the purposes of implementing the Delivery/Operational Plan for the 2015/16 year.

If increased expenditure is greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Council’s revenue from rates in the preceding year, whichever is the greater, Council is required to exhibit the increase to the budget and consider comments received.

Council must also avoid entering into contracts or undertakings where expenditure or revenue is greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Council’s revenue from rates in the preceding year, whichever is the greater, unless the contract or undertaking is as a result of a decision or procurement process commenced prior to the merger proposal period or where entering into a contract or undertaking is reasonably necessary for the purposes of meeting the ongoing service delivery commitments of the Council or was previously approved in the Council’s Delivery/Operational Plan.

Policy and Governance Implications

Nil

Recommendation

That the minutes of the meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 30 September 2016 be adopted.

further considerations

Consideration has been given to the recommendation’s impact on Council’s service delivery; image and reputation; political; environmental; health and safety; employees; stakeholders and project management; and no further implications or risks have been identified.

SUPPORTING INFORMATION

The Committee noted progress achieved with the preparation of Council’s 2015/16 financial year end statements.

The Committee also considered the External Auditor’s second interim audit management letter and provided feedback.

It is recommended that the annual review of the Audit and Risk Management Committee Charter be deferred until after a decision regarding the mergers of the member councils in Bathurst, Dubbo and Orange have been made.

The Committee also recommended amendments to the internal audit program as necessary to allow completion of an assessment of various processes.

Attachments

1 Minutes of the Meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 30 September 2016

ORANGE CITY COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE

Audit and Risk Management Committee

HELD IN Committee Room 3, Civic Centre, Byng Street, Orange

ON 30 September 2016

COMMENCING AT 9.00am

1 Introduction

Attendance

Mr P Burgett (Chairperson), Cr R Kidd, Mr A Fletcher (voting members).

Acting General Manager (Chris Devitt), Director Corporate and Commercial Services, Internal Auditor (non-voting members), Manager Financial Services (invited attendee).

1.1 Apologies and Leave of Absence

RESOLVED Cr R Kidd/Mr A Fletcher

That the apologies be accepted from Cr J Davis OAM (Mayor), Cr J Whitton, Mr G Styles (General Manager) and Mr J O’Malley (External Auditor) for the Audit and Risk Management Committee meeting on 30 September 2016.

1.2 Acknowledgement of Country

1.3 Declaration of pecuniary interests, significant non-pecuniary interests and less than significant non-pecuniary interests

Nil

2 Previous Minutes

RESOLVED Mr A Fletcher/Mr P Burgett

1 That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 24 June 2016 (copies of which were circulated to all members) be amended to distinguish between voting members, non-voting members and invited attendees.

2 That subject to the above amendment, the Minutes of the Meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 24 June 2016 (copies of which were circulated to all members) be and are hereby confirmed as a true and accurate record of the proceedings of the Audit and Risk Management Committee meeting held on 24 June 2016.

3 General Reports

3.1 Financial Statements - External Audit Timetable

TRIM Reference: 2016/2226

Recommendation Mr A Fletcher/Cr R Kidd

1 That the Audit and Risk Management Committee note the change of the end of year audit date to the week commencing 17 October 2016.

2 That a copy of the draft financial statements be circulated to Committee members out of session as soon as they are available for their review.

3 That individual members of the Committee provide their comments and feedback on the 2016 draft financial statements to the Committee Chairperson.

4 That the Committee Chairperson discuss any matters arising from members comments and feedback with the External Auditor prior to presentation of the financial statements to Council.

3.2 Management Letter - Second Interim Audit

TRIM Reference: 2016/2227

Recommendation Mr A Fletcher/Cr R Kidd

1 That the members of the Audit and Risk Management Committee note the second interim audit management letter.

2 That the Committee noted the additional information provided by management in relation to mitigating controls over payroll transactions.

3 That the Committee considered this additional commentary on payroll control processes and deemed it satisfactory to mitigate the risk issues raised by the External Auditor.

4 That management be requested to provide feedback on the payroll mitigating controls discussion to the External Auditor.

3.3 Audit and Risk Management Committee Charter Annual Review

TRIM Reference: 2016/2141

Recommendation Cr R Kidd/Mr A Fletcher

1 That the annual review of the Audit and Risk Management Committee Charter be deferred until after a decision regarding the mergers of the member councils in Bathurst, Dubbo and Orange have been made.

2 That the charter review also contemplate the impact of the amendments to the Local Government Act (1993) relating to the Internal Audit function.

3 That management enquire with the Office of Local Government as to when Local Government Act Regulations relating to internal audit functions are likely to be published.

3.4 Internal Audit Programme Status Report as at September 2016

TRIM Reference: 2016/2148

Recommendation Cr R Kidd/Mr A Fletcher

1 That changes to the Internal Audit program as follows be noted:

a The fees and charges audit delivery date will be in the October to December 2016 period.

b The development services processes audit delivery date will be in the October to December 2016 period.

c That the Records Management audit be deleted from the program for 2016/17 and be reconsidered in the review of subsequent years’ programming when next reviewed in March 2017.

d That the Business Continuity Plan audit delivery be deferred to the April to June 2017 period.

e That the Work Health Safety compliance review audit program delivery date be in the January to March 2017 period.

2 That the balance of the report be noted.

3 That the Internal Auditor be requested to amend the 2016/17 internal audit programme to include a review of the corporate risk register. The review will focus on establishing whether the risk mitigation strategies identified in the corporate risk registers are in place. That the impact of this amendment to the internal audit programme be reported to the next meeting.

4 That the cumulative number of audit days as indicated on the copy of the internal audit programme for the 2016/17 financial year be reviewed and reconciled with the total number of days allocated to Orange City Council.

5 That the revised copy of the 2016/17 financial year internal audit programme be distributed to Committee members out of session.

3.5 ARMC Action List as at September 2016

TRIM Reference: 2016/2229

Recommendation Mr A Fletcher/Cr R Kidd

1 That the report by the Internal Auditor on ARMC Action List as at September 2016 be acknowledged.

2 That action items marked as completed be deleted from the ARMC Action List.

3 That the Committee noted the information provided on Action Item number 2016A06.04 and that this item be deleted from the Action List.

4 That Committee members identify additional inspections of interest.

5 That the insurance review conducted annually be added to the “Process Improvement Projects by Other Resources” section of the internal audit programme, with scope to include the process used to review insurance coverage.

The Meeting Closed at 10:57AM.

Finance Policy Committee 1 November 2016

3 General Reports

3.1 Statement of Bank Balances as at 29 September 2016

TRIM REFERENCE: 2016/2493

AUTHOR: Kim Thompson, Accounting Officer - Management

EXECUTIVE Summary

Council operates one Bank Account and is required to carry out a Bank Reconciliation at the end of each month. As at 29 September 2016, the Cash Book Balance was $226,556.49.

Link To Delivery/OPerational Plan

The recommendation in this report relates to the Delivery/Operational Plan strategy “1.2 Our City - Information and advice provided for the decision-making process will be succinct, reasoned, accurate, timely and balanced”.

Financial Implications

The guidelines instruct Council it should expend money in accordance with the detailed budget adopted for the purposes of implementing the Delivery/Operational Plan for the 2015/16 year.

Policy and Governance Implications

Nil

Recommendation

That the information provided in the report by the Accounting Officer – Management on the Statement of Bank Balances as at 29 September 2016 be acknowledged.

further considerations

Attachments

1 Bank Reconciliation as at 29 September 2016, D16/50275 ⇩

Finance Policy Committee 1 November 2016

3.2 Request For Financial Assistance

TRIM REFERENCE: 2016/2470

AUTHOR: Josie Sanders, Management Accountant

EXECUTIVE Summary

Council is in receipt of requests for financial assistance under section 356 of the Local Government Act 1993. The report provides details of applications received.

Link To Delivery/OPerational Plan

The recommendation in this report relates to the Delivery/Operational Plan strategy “3.3 Our City – Recognise that members of the community will take different leadership pathways, the Council will support this growth and development through appropriate activities, initiatives and assistance”.

Financial Implications

The guidelines instruct Council it should expend money in accordance with the detailed budget adopted for the purposes of implementing the Delivery/Operational Plan for the 2015/16 year.

Implications in this report

None of the applications are recommended to be funded because there are no uncommitted available funds for the applications attached to the report given both the General Donations, and Major Promotions budget have been fully expended.

As Council is aware, the Donations Policy is promoted widely as part of the budget process and all applicants (successful or not) who have sought donations in the past couple of years are individually written to with an invitation for them to make submissions for donations/sponsorships so their allocation is more certain given it is included in the budget processes. This has been successfully completed again this year.

However, for the first time this year, $2,000 for each Councillor has been reserved to enable Councillors to allocate up to $2,000 each to requests as they arise throughout the year. If any of the attached are supported by a Councillor, an allocation can be made from their remaining allocation. A table is provided below and it will be updated with each report to show how much each Councillor has apportioned to their supported projects.

The overall donations/sponsorship budget for 2016/17 is as follows:

Program	Adopted Budget	Actual/Committed	Remaining balance
General Donations	84,378	84,378*	Nil
Major Promotions	72,127	72,127	Nil

* The allocation of 19 x $100 reserved for school prize giving is accounted for in the actual/committed column of the table. The actual/committed column also includes the Councillor allocation of $24,000 ($2,000 per Councillor) which is available to be allocated by Councillors throughout the year.

Process for the application of the remaining budget allocation

A Council resolution is required to allocate funds to any external entity, including as a donation. Hence, the provision of donations can only occur upon a Councillor’s request being specifically included in a resolution.

Applications are considered against the criteria outlined in the Donations Policy. There is an application form that should be submitted to commence the process of making a donation to another entity. The form contains details that inform Council that the donation aligns with the intentions the Council has established in the Community Strategic Plan.

Where a Councillor has advised they wish to pledge money to a particular cause, the pledge will be noted in the financial assistance report.

The steps to have donations considered is as follows:

1 Applicant completes donations form – available on the Council website or can be sent to the applicant.

2 Application is assessed against the criteria in the Donations Policy and reported to Council in the financial assistance report.

3 Council considers applications at a Council Meeting with Councillors specifically including in a resolution the amount and recipient of any donations supported.

4 In accordance with s356 of the Local Government Act, some donations require advertising and then a report back to Council of any submissions is required (i.e. where the recipient acts for financial benefit for example).

Individual Councillor allocations are as follows:

Councillor	Adopted Budget	Actual/Committed (as resolved)	Remaining balance
Councillor Davis	$2,000	$2,000 – Forbes Flood Appeal	Nil
Councillor Hamling	$2,000	$500 – Canobolas High School $500 – Orange White Ribbon	$1,000
Councillor Brown	$2,000	$2,000 - Leukaemia Foundation	Nil
Councillor Duffy	$2,000	$500 – Come Together Choir $500 – Foodcare Orange $500 – Fusion $500 – Carewest Preschool	Nil
Councillor Gander	$2,000	$1,500 – Foodcare Orange $500 - Fusion	Nil
Councillor Gryllis	$2,000	$500 – Canobolas High School $500 – Carewest Preschool $1,000 – Forbes Flood Appeal	Nil
Councillor Jones	$2,000	$0	$2,000
Councillor Kidd	$2,000	$2,000 – Light it Red for Dyslexia	Nil
Councillor Munro	$2,000	$2,000 – Anson St School	Nil
Councillor Taylor	$2,000	$0	$2,000
Councillor Turner	$2,000	$500 – Come Together Choir	$1,500
Councillor Whitton	$2,000	$0	$2,000

Policy and Governance Implications

Nil

Recommendation

1 That a donation of $500 be made to the Clontarf Foundation as a pool fees entry credit from Cr Hamling’s allocation.

2 That councillors specify any other donation recipients and the amounts for each donation

further considerations

SUPPORTING INFORMATION

· Clontarf Foundation – Request is for Pool fees waiver

o Policy position – Complies with policy and if budget had been available staff would have recommended approval of the application.

o Pool entry fee is $3.40 student per visit, estimated max amount of student x 25, to be used twice weekly for a 10 week program. Approximate value $1,700

o Cr Hamling has pledged to support this event to the value of $500, from his $1,000 remaining in his individual allocation. This pledge has been converted into the recommendation.

· Cancer Council NSW – Waiver of Council venue hire Fees – Unspecified amount

o Policy position – Decline this request as donations are limited to one donation per organisation in any financial year. Council has already provided Cancer Council NSW with a $3,000 donation in this financial year.

o Cost of Function Centre hire: >500 people $1,380, and < 500 $1,218.

Attachments

1 Donation Table, D16/50268 ⇩

2 Clontarf Foundation , IC16/16449 ⇩

3 Cancer Council NSW, IC16/15735 ⇩

Finance Policy Committee 1 November 2016

3.3 Proposed amendments to Schedule of Fees and Charges

TRIM REFERENCE: 2016/2560

AUTHOR: Michelle Catlin, Manager Administration and Governance

EXECUTIVE Summary

This report seeks Council’s approval to put on public exhibition changes to the schedule of Fees and Charges. These changes include amendments to fees charged at the Colour City Caravan Park and Wade Park, and to formalise the payments to the independent members of Council’s Audit and Risk Management Committee and to the Council appointed members of the Conduct Review Panel.

Link To Delivery/OPerational Plan

Financial Implications

The guidelines instruct Council it should expend money in accordance with the detailed budget adopted for the purposes of implementing the Delivery/Operational Plan for the 2015/16 year.

Any expenditure outside the adopted budget requires the identification of clear and compelling grounds and must be approved by Council at a meeting that is open to the public. The guidelines indicate the resolution of Council for increased expenditure must specify the reasons why the expenditure is required and warranted. If increased expenditure is greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Council’s revenue from rates in the preceding year, whichever is the greater, Council is required to exhibit the increase to the budget and consider comments received.

Policy and Governance Implications

The proposed amendments, if approved, will be placed on public exhibition for a period of 28 days and any submissions will be reported back to Council for consideration following the exhibition period. Under the Local Government Act 1993, Council cannot impose a fee or charge without first being through a public exhibition process.

Recommendation

That the following amendments to the Schedule of Fees and Charges be placed on public exhibition:

1 Colour City Caravan Park – Four Seasons Cottage – for up to 4 persons:

a) Remove the minimum length of stay

b) Retain maximum length of stay of 2 weeks

c) Low season: Night fee of $180 (Inc. GST)

d) Low Season: Per week fee of $1,260 (Inc. GST)

e) Peak Season: Night fee of $200 (Inc. GST)

f) Peak Season: Per week fee of $1,400 (Inc. GST)

g) Additional person to be charged at $30 (Inc. GST) per head

2 Fees for commercial hire of Wade Park to be as follows:

a) Charge per day $1,000 (plus GST)

b) Security bond $10,000 (plus GST)

3 Payment for Service – Audit and Risk Independent Committee Members:

a) Independent Chairperson $1,050 per meeting (plus GST) inclusive of all reading/other time.

b) Independent member $840 per meeting (plus GST) inclusive of all reading/other time.

c) All travel costs for independent members and chairperson to attend ARMC meetings as to be at the km rate in the Local Government State Award for the use of own vehicles.

d) All other expenses are considered to be covered in the meeting fees.

4 Payment for Service – Conduct Review Panel Members:

a) Preliminary Assessment of complaint - $1,250 (plus GST) inclusive of all expenses.

b) Sole Reviewer investigation costs:

i. For the first 10 hours - $250 (plus GST) per hour inclusive of all expenses.

ii. For subsequent hours - $220 (plus GST) per hour inclusive of all expenses.

iii. Where pre-approved, a per km rate for the use of private vehicles owned by Conduct Reviewers to attend meetings will be paid in accordance with the own use schedule in the Local Government State Award.

iv. Payment for any other expenses will not be made unless pre-approved by Council on a matter by matter basis and if so approved, will be at cost.

c) Conduct Review Panel members (where a Conduct Committee is formed – minimum three members):

i. For the first 10 hours - $220 (plus GST) per hour inclusive of all reading/meeting time and all expenses.

ii. For all hours after the first 10 hours - $200 (plus GST) per hour inclusive of all reading/meeting time and all expenses.

iii. Where approved at the time of engagement on a matter by matter basis, panel members may be paid travel costs associated with use of their own vehicle which will be reimbursed at the own vehicle per km rate as listed in the Local Government State Award.

iv. Payment for any other expenses will not be made unless preapproved by Council on a matter by matter basis and if so approved, will be at cost.

further considerations

The recommendation of this report has been assessed against Council’s other key risk categories and the following comments are provided:

Service Delivery

The amendments to the fees for the Four Seasons Cottage at the Caravan Park are proposed to increase utilisation of the Cottage.

The payments for services are required to be set for the statutory committees Council is required to have, the Audit and Risk Committee and the Conduct Review Panel.

SUPPORTING INFORMATION

Colour City Caravan Park

A reduction in the fees for the Four Seasons Cottage is proposed to stimulate utilisation of the Cottage. These reductions are set out below. It is also proposed to remove the minimum length of stay being two nights, but retain the two weeks maximum stay.

Fee	Adopted fee (GST inc)	Proposed fee (GST inc)
Per night (low season)	$225.00	$180.00
Per week (low season)	$1,575.00	$1,260.00
Per night (peak)	$245.00	$200.00
Per week (peak)	$1,715.00	$1,400.00

All fees are based on four people staying. Additional people would be charged $30 per person per night.

Wade Park fees

The Schedule of Fees and Charges include a number of fees for the use of Wade Park, however all fees relate to a sporting use of the facility. There is a need to provide for commercial use of Wade Park for events and other activities. A daily fee of $1,000 plus GST is proposed, together with a security bond of $10,000 plus GST.

Payment for Service – Audit and Risk Management Committee

Council last considered the level of remuneration for independent members for the Audit and Risk Management Committee on 7 October 2014. Councillor members do not receive remuneration for their membership on the Committee.

5.3 Audit and Risk Management Committee Charter Review

TRIM Reference: 2014/1741

RESOLVED - 14/961 Cr C Gryllis/Cr R Kidd

1 …

3 That the Council approve that the payment to Audit and Risk Management Committee independent members be set at $1,000 per meeting for the Chair and $800 per meeting for the other independent member, plus travel costs to attend meetings as identified in the Local Government (State) Award allowance tables.

4 That the Council consider linking annual increments for independent ARMC member remuneration to the equivalent increase to Councillor remuneration levels as set by the NSW Government.

The payment for service for independent members of the Audit and Risk Management Committee has been reviewed. The Local Government Remuneration Tribunal has increased Councillor allocations by 2.5% in each of the two years since the last consideration of the fees by Council.

The proposed new fee levels are set out below for the independent members of the Committee for attendance at the meetings specified in the Charter or for meetings approved by the General Manager from time to time (extraordinary meetings) take into account the two increases to the fees paid to Councillors:

· Chairperson $1,050 per meeting (plus GST) inclusive of all reading/other time.

· Member $840 per meeting (plus GST) inclusive of all reading/other time.

· A per km rate for the use of the independent members’ private vehicles as specified in the Local Government State Award to attend the meetings specified in the charter may be made if pre-approved by Council.

· Reimbursement of any other expenses to be preapproved by Council on a matter by matter basis and will be at cost.

Payment for Service – Conduct Review Panel Members

Generally the payments to Conduct Review Panel members are reviewed when the Panel membership is determined by an expression of interest process following the Local Government elections. Given the election for Orange has been postponed, it is appropriate to review these payments.

For the first time, it is proposed to implement a flat rate for undertaking some elements of the Code of Conduct process, including the undertaking of a preliminary assessment.

· Preliminary Assessment of complaint - $1,250 (plus GST) inclusive of all expenses.

· Sole Reviewer investigation costs

o For first 10 hours: $250 (plus GST) per hour inclusive of all expenses

o For subsequent hours: $220 (plus GST) per hour inclusive of all expenses

· Conduct Review Panel members (where a Conduct Committee is formed - minimum three members)

o For the first 10 hours: $220 (plus GST) per hour inclusive of all reading/meeting time and expenses.

o For subsequent hours: $200 (plus GST) per hour inclusive of all reading/meeting time and all expenses.

· A per km rate for the use of the panel members’ private vehicles as specified in the Local Government State Award to attend the meetings may be made if pre-approved by Council.

· Reimbursement of any other expenses to be pre-approved by Council on a matter by matter basis and will be at cost.