City of Surrey 2016 Annual Report

CITY OF SURREY OVERVIEWS FINANCE & TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT

The Finance & Technology Department delivers financial expertise, risk management, information technology services, advice and guidance to support all City operations. The Department provides responsive services and innovative solutions required to streamline City processes, facilitating gains in efficiencies. The Department leads process improvements and sets, as well as maintains, financial and information technology practices, policies and standards. The department has the responsibility for the following divisions/sections:

FINANCIAL REPORTING Financial Reporting includes long-term financial planning, annual budget development, accounting, procurement and statutory financial reporting; responsible for presenting an annual five-year financial plan which establishes financial and programming priorities. The Financial Reporting Division also keeps Management and Council informed about the City’s financial performance on a quarterly basis, ensuring the City meets its annual budget and targeted savings. In addition, this Division coordinates the procurement of high quality, cost-effective goods and services, while ensuring all polices are followed and best practices implemented. The Procurement section follows applicable legislation and ensures appropriate public and competitive processes are applied. management, accounts payable, and taxation. Staff calculate, levy, and collect property taxes, water and sewer billing and other payments, to ensure completeness and accuracy, as well as monitor cash flow and invest funds for maximum return while minimizing risk and adhering to the City’s Investment Policy. Staff also ensure that all employees are paid correctly on a bi-weekly basis and that external vendor invoices are paid in a timely and cost effective manner. FINANCIAL SERVICES Financial Services includes payroll, investments, treasury, cash

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) Information Technology (IT) works to implement and support innovative technological best practices to maximize efficiencies in City service delivery, and improve customer service; as a corporate service, this includes providing all City departments with consulting, technology research, analysis, development, maintenance and support. RISK MANAGEMENT Risk Management provides service and expertise in risk management, insurance, claims, litigation and loss control. By incorporating Enterprise Wide Risk Management practices, they are able to identify, manage and reduce the overall cost of risk. INTERNAL AUDIT Internal Audit is responsible for reviewing business processes, policies and procedures for efficiency, control and compliance. It also investigates internal and external breaches of control, conducts specialized projects, investigates breaches related to the City’s Code of Conduct Bylaw, provides commodity tax services to the City and develops the annual Corporate Audit Plan.

2 0 1 6 A C C O M P L I S H M E N T S

• Launched MySurrey Portal which allows customers quick, convenient and secure access to popular Surrey online services anytime, anywhere and from any device. MySurrey portal currently comprises more than two dozen services including the following new services: Freedom of Information Request, Community Care license inspection, Building Records Search, Parking Tickets, IRIS and Fire Safety Plan Review. More services will be added as they become available with single sign-on capability.

• Water meter requests were transitioned from paper filing to digital storage, resulting in savings for offsite storage costs. • As part of the Public Safety Strategy, cyber security outreach program, “Be Safe Online”, was launched to provide reliable and actionable education and resources to Surrey residents and small-to-medium- sized businesses with a goal to reduce incidences of cyber crime. • Designed and developed a web application to support ‘IRIS’ which registers camera locations owned and provided by residents and businesses in Surrey. This video camera registry initiative is a partnership between the City of Surrey, Surrey RCMP, businesses, and the community. • Successfully transitioned to a new collection agency to ensure efficient revenue collection and the reduction of bad debts.

• Provided superior customer service and expert advice to internal and external customers along with assistance and financial advice to Surrey associations and non-profit organizations. • Performed identification and due diligence procedures to decrease the City’s historical deposit liabilities. • Corporate Procurement revamped the Purchasing and Payment Manual, incorporating changes to reflect our FMS financial system and process changes. • For the second consecutive year, Surrey was named one of the Top 7 Intelligent Communities in the world by the New York- based think tank Intelligent Community Forum. Surrey was selected from over 400 City applicants worldwide.

• Developed and received Council endorsement for the Smart Surrey

Broadband Strategy to serve as a road map for equipping the City to meet its current and future broadband (high-speed internet connection) needs.

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