Vandana Waghela, Senior Internal Auditor presented the City Manager's Department, Fire & Emergency Services Division, Professional Development & Accreditation Section – MFES Training and Accreditation Audit. V. Wagela noted that a total of four (4) recommendations resulted from this audit. Three (3) relate to safeguarding of
assets and information, and one (1) improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. Management has completed one recommendation, and agreed to complete one (1) by December 2024, and the remaining two (2) by June 2025. In response to Councillor A. Tedjo, Deputy Chief Rob Grimwood spoke to the benefits of the in-house training and development option. Further Deputy Chief R. Grimwood confirmed this process is akin to other departments throughout the City.
Airene Cucanan, Senior Internal Auditor, presented the City Manager’s Department, Finance Division, Revenue & Taxation Section – Property Taxes Billing Audit. A. Cucanan noted that this audit resulted in 14 recommendations; five (5) relate to safeguarding of assets and information, five (5) deal with operational and financial reporting, two (2) pertain to compliance with and clarification of corporate requirements, and two (2) enhance the efficiency/effectiveness of the process. Management has agreed and committed to completing two (2) recommendations by December of this year, eleven (11) during the first half of 2024 and the remaining one (1) by September of 2024.
In response to Councillor A. Tedjo, Marisa Chiu, Director, Finance spoke to an error made regarding the Business Improvement Area levy and noted the controls that have since been implemented. In response to Councillor J. Horneck, Cathy Mcdonald, Supervisor, Tax Billing and Accounting spoke to the improvements for the 3 identified rates and the use of a peer review system rather than an in-system approval. In response to Councillor J. Horneck, Shari Lichterman, City Manager and CAO spoke to automating processes and spoke to the rationale behind not automating spreadsheets. In response to Councillor C. Fonseca, S. Lichterman, spoke to providing a slide deck of citywide automation priorities to the Audit Committee at a future meeting once updated for the Leadership Team for 2024.
In response to Councillor J. Kovac, C. Mcdonald spoke to the decrease of calls regarding seniors rebates and noted the TXM program applies the credit to the tax accounts directly.
In response to Councillor J. Horneck, S. Lichterman spoke about access terminations when there are staff changes and noted this has been flagged for review.
Samer El Barakeh, Senior Internal Auditor presented the Corporate Services Department, Corporate Business Services Division, Realty Services Section – Realty Services Audit and noted the audit resulted in 14 recommendations. Four (4) enhance the compliance with and clarification of corporate requirements, four (4) improve the safeguarding of assets and information, four (4) promote efficiency/effectiveness of the process, and two (2) deal with operational control and financial reporting. Management has agreed and committed to completing one (1) recommendation by the end of this year, and the remaining thirteen (13) in March and June of 2024.
In response to Councillor A. Tedjo, Raj Sheth, Commissioner, Corporate Services noted the City is looking into bringing in a Project Management Software with the goal of implementation in the spring of 2024. In response to Councillor A. Tedjo, S. Lichterman, spoke to the process for acquiring assets through amalgamations and dissolution.