Service Highlights - Financial Services
Page last updated 15 September, 2000
Long term debt outstanding at December 31st [$16.1million] is well within regulatory limits and City Council debt benchmarks as defined in the Financial Management and Debt Reduction Policy. The balance sheet of the organization continues to improve annually. Again in 1999, significant benefits resulted from the Pay -As-You-Go Program, with the fund providing $594,000 for capital projects.
Increased tax revenue for municipal purposes in 1999 was $1,211,000. Municipal expenditures were increased for Protective Services [Fire Services], General Administration [Information Technology], Transportation Services [asphalt road maintenance and street cleaning] and Facility Maintenance in response to growth.
Our Finance Department staff are responsible for the City's financial records and reporting, operating budget, payroll, benefit administration, accounts payable, cash receipts and financial training. Increased service levels in 1999 included provision of payroll services to the Grande Prairie Airport Commission, and internal preparation of the 1998 Municipal Financial Information Return.
INFORMATION RESOURCES
Three Y2K software upgrades were implemented successfully within very stringent time frames. Budget and financial reporting deadlines were met and cross training for key positions in the department has been accomplished. As a result of investments in technology and planning by the Information Resources Department in prior years, the majority of our systems were Y2K compliant. The legacy systems were expected to be compatible and experienced minor interruptions in service at year end. Our utility customers will experience the most significant impact of this issue. Migration of the legacy financial systems commenced in 1999, as provided for in the capital plan and will be a focus for operating departments over the next two years. The City of Grande Prairie website continues to be a source of pride for our organization, peaking at 73,000 page views monthly.
In Purchasing we have been developing and testing our involvement in the MERX on line bidding system. This system will facilitate local contractors bidding on national tenders and similarly see national competition for City business. Use of our self-pay purchase order system continues to increase. The Purchasing Department played the lead role in removing hazardous materials in the former Montrose school and ultimately the building demolition.
ASSESSMENT & TAXATION
This was the second year with property assessments at market value and it has been well received by taxpayers. Our team of assessors completed a re-inspection program, examining 6,304 homes [76%] and 2/3 of all apartment buildings verifying assessment data. This reflected in the accuracy of residential assessments when compared to sales data in the annual audit [99.7%]. Our assessment team addressed the issue of untreated pine shakes with homeowners.
CUSTOMER BILLING
In 1999 Customer Billing issued 132,000 utility bills, a 5.1% increase over the prior year. Our electronic customers continue to grow rapidly with 30% on our pre-authorized payment plan and 34% making payments at their banks.
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Our GIS team replaced old technology with a new copier/scanner to provide better quality maps and drawings while eliminating a significant environmental hazard. The GIS desk top viewer was installed and over 80 City staff are now trained in its use. We now have in excess of 200 desktop applications accessed by over 300 registered users for this technology. Staff in this area were instrumental in the highly successful Connecting Canadians Conference hosted in Grande Prairie where the Federal Minister formally recognized the leadership of our organization in this field. Growth in our City was again a significant factor in 1999.