HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-07-04
AUDIT COMMITTEE MINUTES
JULY 4 2005
CITY OF KITCHENER
The Audit Committee met this date commencing at 3:10p.m.
Present: Mayor C. Zehr and Councillors B. Vrbanovic, J. Gazzola, M. Galloway and C. Weylie.
Councillor G. Lorentz was in attendance for part of the meeting.
Staff: C. Ladd, Chief Administrative Officer
P. Houston, General Manager, Financial Services & City Treasurer
G. Stewart, General Manager, Development & Technical Services
C. Tasker (nee Wilson), Internal Auditor & Performance Measurement
R. LeBrun, Director of Budgets & Financial Services
R. Gosse, Director of Legislated Services & Deputy City Clerk
1. C. Ladd advised that staff have undertaken a debriefing following the LT. audit and one lesson
that was learned from that debriefing was the need for clear direction and scope for future
audits. Ms. Ladd explained that staff is seeking direction from the Committee with respect to
the scope of the Communications audit which is due to commence in the near future.
The Committee had a general discussion on the scope for the Communications Division audit
putting forward suggestions and recommendations summarized as follows:
Financial Review
Review current and past actual costs compared to budgets, and related financial practices,
to see if there are any line items which have been traditionally under spent or overspent
that could be eliminated, reduced, or reallocated in up coming budgets.
Compare costs incurred today vs. when the division was first set up; what has changed,
been added, or deleted. This includes comparing the costs of the original decentralized
structure (services provided from within the other departments), the initial costs of providing
centralized services within the Communications division and the current costs.
Compare the cost of similar external services to the internal costs to determine if providing
the service internally is cost effective.
Services Provided
Determine who the key customer groups are and whether they are getting the services and
level of service they require.
List all services currently provided and compare to the services originally offered when the
division was created, including level of service provided.
List all publications produced by the Communications Division.
Perform a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats).
Determine whether press releases are valuable and whether there are too many of them.
Determine what "communications" type activities or services are being carried out by other
departments or outside firms currently and whether it is more economical to perform the
services within Communications.
Organizational structure
· Review the current staff complement compared to what it was when the division was
created, including how many staff were required in the decentralized structure and how
many staff were originally transferred over to the new Communications division. Relate this
to the list of services provided then and now.
· Determine if this is the best structure and amount of staff to accomplish the mandate;
validate whether a centralized structure (versus decentralized within departments) is the
best structure.
Mandate
· Compare the mandate of the division when it was first created with what the staff feel is the
mandate today.
· Review the strategic goals and determine if they are in alignment with the corporate plan.
· Analyze whether the current services help achieve the strategic goals and if not, whether
there is a valid reason for providing the service.
Suggested Recommendations
· Neighbourhood association newsletters to be coordinated with Communications
newsletters
AUDIT COMMITTEE MINUTES
JULY 4 2005
- 6 -
CITY OF KITCHENER
On motion, the meeting adjourned at 3:25 p.m.
Randy Gosse
Committee Administrator