TODAY’ S MUNICIPAL TREASURER
On Jan. 1, 2009, Ontario municipalities were required to adopt Public Sector Accounting Board( PSAB) reporting requirements for evaluating their tangible capital assets( TCAs) and amortizing the future cost of sustaining those assets and related services. Examples of municipal TCAs include parks, transit networks, roads, public buildings, and
water / wastewater facilities.
The accounting change was implemented to provide greater transparency at the municipal government level and to bring third-tier government financial reports in line with federal and provincial reporting practices. It was also the catalyst that sparked the evolution of several roles in municipal government, especially that of the treasurer.
“ Things have changed so significantly in the municipal sector,” says Tammy Wolters, CEO of WSCS Consulting Inc., in Perth, Ont.“ The old-school version of the treasurer is the person who concentrated on collecting taxes; who made sure invoices got out and were paid – a financial services kind of role.”
Wolters, who consults on asset management and business
MUNICIPAL MONITOR 15