Item - 2020.BU16.3

The Budget Committee recommends that:

1.  City Council receive the report (January 9, 2020) from the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer for information.

The Budget Committee at its meeting of January 15, 16 and 17, 2020 deferred consideration of Item 15.3 - Additional City of Toronto Reporting Requirement as a Result of Ontario Regulation 286/09, Budget Matters - Expenses to the February 4, 2020 meeting of the Budget Committee.

Ontario Regulation 286/09 "Budget Matters - Expenses" (Regulation) allows the City of Toronto (City) to exclude amortization expense, post-employment benefit expenses and solid waste landfill closure and post-closure expenses when preparing its annual budget.  However, the Regulation requires that the City prepare a report which includes at a minimum, an estimate of the change in accumulated surplus resulting from the exclusion of the noted expenses from the budget, and an analysis of the impact of the exclusion on future capital asset funding requirements.  The Regulation requires that this report be adopted by City Council (Council) prior to the adoption of its annual budget.

This report discusses the impact of excluding amortization expense, post-employment benefit expenses and solid waste landfill closure and post-closure expenses from the City's budget, along with the impact of the differences between how the City treats the purchase of tangible capital assets, debt principal repayments, Government Business Enterprise earnings, and expenses arising from contaminated site liabilities for budgeting and financial reporting purposes.  The items treated differently for accounting versus budget purposes, beyond those identified in the Regulation, are included to reflect the complete impact on estimated accumulated surplus for 2020.

The report from the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer on Additional City of Toronto Reporting Requirement as a Result of Ontario Regulation 286/09, Budget Matters - Expenses was distributed to all Members of Council on January 10, 2020 as part of the agenda for the Budget Committee meeting of January 15, 16 and 17, 2020.