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CITY OF VANCOUVER ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT |
Date: |
June 7, 2004 | |
Author: |
Karen G. Dornan | |
Phone No.: |
604-326-4786 | |
RTS No.: |
2970 | |
CC File No.: |
113 | |
Meeting Date: |
July 8, 2004 |
TO: |
Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets |
FROM: |
City Clerk |
SUBJECT: |
Mayor and Council Members' Expenses By-law |
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council approve enactment of the Mayor and Council Members' Expenses By-law, generally in accordance with Appendix A, and authorize the Director of Legal Services to bring the By-law forward for Council's consideration and to repeal By-laws 7254 and 7466.
B. THAT Council authorize the proposed amendments to current Council policy on Business Travel regarding approval of the Mayor's and Council members' reimbursement of expenses as set out in Appendix B.
CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The City Manager recommends approval of this report.
COUNCIL POLICY
Amendments to By-laws and Council policies require Council approval.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report Is to recommend a by-law that consolidates the two existing by-laws governing reimbursement of expenses incurred by members of Council while representing the City, engaging in City business or attending a course, meeting or convention and to repeal By-laws 7254 and 7466. The report secondly recommends changes to the Council Policy on Business Travel to remove references to approvals for elected officials.
BACKGROUND
On June 23, 1992 Council approved a Business Travel Policy which sets out the authority to approve travel as follows, when pertaining to Members of Council:
· the Mayor, when travel activities occur within the Province, and
· Council, when travel activities occur outside the Province.
In 1993, the Province enacted a number of amendments to the Vancouver Charter related to reimbursement of Council member expenses while representing the City, engaging in City business or attending a meeting, course or convention.
On December 14, 1993, Council enacted By-law 7254, under Section 196, restricting reimbursement of expenses to those activities that are approved by Council.
On September 12, 1995, Council enacted By-law 7466, also under Section 196, which specifically deals with reimbursement of expenses incurred by members of Council representing the City, engaging in City business or attending related meetings within the GVRD. Paragraph 3 of By-law 7254 also deals with expenses within the boundaries of the GVRD.
DISCUSSION
Approvals to Travel
The Business Travel Policy was approved on June 23, 1992 as a result of a report by Peat Marwick. The policy, with a few minor changes, remains in effect today.
There is an inconsistency between the Council policy on Business Travel and By-law 7254 as it relates to approval required for Council members' activities. The Business Travel Policy requires the Mayor's approval for travel within the province and By-law 7254 requires Council approval for such travel. Past practice has been to adhere to the Business Travel Policy. However, Council does not have the authority under the Vancouver Charter (section 196) to delegate to the Mayor the authority to approve the cost of travel.
Because it would be impractical to seek Council approval for all expenditures within British Columbia, staff have tried to find a workable solution. What is proposed and reflected in the draft By-law is a practice of reporting travel and training within BC in a quarterly report seeking approval by Council retroactively. Because approval is being sought after the expenses are incurred, there is a risk to the individual Councillor. In the event Council does not approve an activity, the individual Councillor would be required to assume the cost. Because of this, Councillors will have the option of seeking prior approval for any travel or training activities.
All travel and training outside of British Columbia will still require prior approval by Council.
It should also be noted that Council has two standing resolutions that i) any member of Council wishing to attend FCM Conferences are authorized to do so and ii) any member of Council wishing to attend UBCM Conventions are authorized to do so. The draft By-law specifically approves attendance by the Mayor and council members at each annual convention of the UBCM and FCM.
To be consistent with the Vancouver Charter and the draft By-law, it is recommended that the Business Travel Policy be amended to remove any reference to travel and training for the Mayor and Council Members. This would ensure that the proposed By-law would be the sole policy document pertaining to these expenses, thus eliminating any chance of conflict.
Courses, Meetings and Conventions
Further amendments would reduce some ambiguity with regard to courses, meetings and conventions that take place within the boundaries of the GVRD. These types of events are covered in both By-law 7254, paragraph 3 which states "...the Director of finance shall only provide payment for the attendance fees or the cost of the course, meeting or convention registration." and in By-law 7466 which includes "educational materials and courses and stationery or equipment used to produce documents or other business materials". The inclusion of `courses' in both By-laws makes it unclear, when the course or convention takes place within the GVRD, under what circumstances the costs should be included in the Councillors' local expense allowance, which is capped at 10% of the annual remuneration.
The draft By-law allows Council members to choose a course of action. If the activity will benefit the City or Council as a whole or if it is something they would have sought approval to go to, regardless of the location, they may wish to seek Council approval. If Council approval is granted, the expenses would be charged to the pooled travel and training budget rather than Councillor's annual expense allowance.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
There are no financial implications.
CONCLUSION
This report, proposed By-law and policy amendment will assist Council members by clarifying the approval requirements and proposing a workable way of meeting those requirements under the Vancouver Charter. This new By-law as set out in Appendix A, maintains the requirement for Council approval for all travel outside the GVRD, and the amended Council Policy on Business Travel as set out in Appendix B eliminates any conflicts with the By-law.
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