|
1. ESTABLISHMENT
OF A DEBENTURE COMMITTEE AND DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY TO ENACT DEBENTURE
BY-LAWS, OTHER RELATED BY-LAWS AND Temporary borrowing by-laws for current
purposes Renseignements
supplémentaires aux estimations budgétaires – Rapport sommaire DES Budgets de
fonctionnement et d’immobilisations préliminaires de 2010 |
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS AS
AMENDED
That Council:
1. Establish a Committee
known as the Debenture Committee in accordance with the Terms of Reference
contained in Document 1 and delegate authority to the Debenture Committee to
make final decisions with respect to the following matters to the extent that
the authority has not already been delegated:
(a) the authority to enact debenture by-laws to authorize the issuance of debentures where the project debt authority has been approved by Council and the Treasurer has proceeded with one or more debt issues pursuant to Section 16, Schedule “A” of By-law No. 2009-231, the Delegation of Authority By-law by finalizing the terms and conditions of such debt issues;
(b)
the authority to enact
temporary borrowing by-laws for current operations in accordance with section
407 of the Municipal Act, 2001 to authorize short term borrowing for the
purpose of meeting current expenditures in any year until such time as the
taxes are collected and other revenues are received and to authorize any one or
more members of the Debenture Committee to do all things and execute any loan
or other agreements required to give effect to any temporary borrowing;
(c)
the authority to enact
the required by-law(s) to enter into new arrangements with CDS Clearing and
Depository Services Inc. (“CDS”) to ensure that CDS accepts new debenture
issues and maintains existing City debentures in the CDS system and to
authorize any one or more members of the Debenture Committee to do all things
and execute all documents, instruments and agreements in order to make these
arrangements effective; and
(d)
the authority to enact a by-law authorizing the
City to issue replacement debenture certificates if and when required, to
replace defaced, lost, mysteriously or unexplainably missing, stolen, destroyed
or other instances such as dematerialized debenture certificates on such terms
and conditions considered appropriate including a bond of indemnity as a
condition of issuing replacement debenture certificates;
2. Subject to the approval of
Recommendation 1, the delegation provision contained in Recommendation 1, shall
be held by the Debenture Committee exclusively and shall remain in full
force and effect until the end of the term of City Council at which time this
delegation may be revoked otherwise this delegation remains in effect;
3. Subject to the approval of
Recommendation 1, approve the enactment of amendments to the Procedure By-law
to reflect the notice requirements contained in Document 1 and to the
Delegation of Authority By-law to indicate that the authority to enact the
debenture by-laws has been delegated to the Debenture Committee;
4. Subject to the approval of
Recommendation 1, amend the Policy on Debt and Financing to reflect the
establishment of the Debenture Committee and the delegations noted in
Recommendation 1; and
5. That the Terms of Reference for the
Debenture Committee be amended such that, “A quorum shall be one-half of
all members” now read, “A quorum shall be one-half of all members, with at
least one of those members being an elected official.”
RecommandationS
modifiÉs du Comité
Que le Conseil :
1. cré un comité nommé « Comité sur les
débentures » conformément au mandat décrit dans le Document 1 et délègue
les pouvoirs à ce comité pour qu’il puisse prendre des décisions finales à
l’égard des questions suivantes, sous réserve que ces pouvoirs n’ont pas déjà
été délégués :
(a)
Le
pouvoir d’édicter des règlements municipaux sur les débentures visant
l’autorisation de l’émission de débentures dans les situations où le Conseil a
approuvé le pouvoir d’endettement pour un projet et que le trésorier a procédé
à l’émission obligataire conformément à l’article 16 de l’Annexe A du Règlement
2009-231, Règlement sur la délégation de pouvoirs, en ce qui concerne ses
modalités d’endettement;
(b) Le pouvoir d’édicter des règlements
d’emprunt temporaire en vertu de l’article 407 de la Loi de 2001 sur les municipalités, qui autorise les emprunts à court terme pour couvrir les dépenses
de l’exercice en cours jusqu’à ce que les impôts soient perçus et que les
autres recettes soient rentrées, et d’autoriser un ou plusieurs membres du
Comité sur les débentures de prendre les mesures nécessaires et de consentir
des prêts ou de conclure d’autres ententes qui sont nécessaires pour contracter
les emprunts temporaires;
(c) Le pouvoir d’édicter les règlements
nécessaires pour conclure des ententes avec CDS Clearing and Depository
Services Inc. (CDS) pour s’assurer que CDS accepte l’émission de nouvelles
débentures et qu’il conserve les débentures actuelles de la Ville dans son
système et autoriser un ou plusieurs membres du Comité sur les débentures à
prendre les mesures nécessaires et à signer tous les documents, instruments et
accords nécessaires pour donner cours aux ententes avec CDS; et
(d) Le pouvoir d’édicter un règlement
autorisant la Ville à émettre, au besoin, des certificats de débenture pour
remplacer les certificats oblitérés, perdus, mystérieusement disparus, volés,
détruits ou dématérialisés selon des conditions jugées appropriées, comme la
production d’un acte de cautionnement avant le remplacement des certificats de
débenture;
2. Sous réserve de l’approbation de la première
recommandation, attribue la délégation de pouvoirs décrits dans la
recommandation exclusivement au Comité sur les débentures jusqu’à la fin du
mandat du Conseil municipal, auquel moment la délégation pourra être révoquée
ou reconduite;
3. Sous réserve de l’approbation de la première
recommandation, approuve les modifications au Règlement de procédure afin de
refléter les exigences d’avis décrites dans le Document 1 et celles apportées
au Règlement sur la délégation de pouvoirs pour préciser que le pouvoir
d’édicter des règlements sur les débentures a été délégué au Comité sur les
débentures;
4. Sous réserve de l’approbation de la première
recommandation, modifie la politique sur les dettes et le financement afin de
refléter la création du Comité sur les débentures et la délégation de pouvoirs
décrite dans la première recommandation; et
5. Que le mandat du Comité sur les
obligations soit modifié, en changeant le libellé « Le quorum est
constitué de la moitié de l'ensemble des membres du Comité » par ce qui
suit « Le quorum est constitué de la moitié de l’ensemble des membres du
Comité dont au moins un de ces membres est un représentant élu ».
DOCUMENTATION
1.
City Treasurer’s report dated 11 January 2010 (ACS2010-CMR-FIN-0001)
2. Extract of Draft Minutes from 19
January 2010 meeting of ABFC
Audit, Budget and
Finance Committee
and Council / et au Conseil
11 January 2010/le 11 janvier 2010
Submitted by/Soumis par : Marian Simulik,
City Treasurer
Contact Person/Personne ressource : Mona Monkman, Deputy City Treasurer
Corporate Finance/ Trésorière municipale adjointe – Finances municipales
Finance
Department/Service des Finances
(613)
580-2424 x 41723, Mona.Monkman@ottawa.ca
That the Audit Budget and
Finance Committee recommend Council:
1. Establish a Committee known as the
Debenture Committee in accordance with the Terms of Reference contained in
Document 1 and delegate authority to the Debenture Committee to make final
decisions with respect to the following matters to the extent that the
authority has not already been delegated:
(a) the authority to enact debenture by-laws to authorize the issuance of debentures where the project debt authority has been approved by Council and the Treasurer has proceeded with one or more debt issues pursuant to Section 16, Schedule “A” of By-law No. 2009-231, the Delegation of Authority By-law by finalizing the terms and conditions of such debt issues;
(b)
the authority to enact temporary
borrowing by-laws for current operations in accordance with section 407 of the Municipal
Act, 2001 to authorize short term borrowing for the purpose of meeting
current expenditures in any year until such time as the taxes are collected and
other revenues are received and to authorize any one or more members of the
Debenture Committee to do all things and execute any loan or other agreements
required to give effect to any temporary borrowing;
(c)
the authority to enact
the required by-law(s) to enter into new arrangements with CDS Clearing and
Depository Services Inc. (“CDS”) to ensure that CDS accepts new debenture
issues and maintains existing City debentures in the CDS system and to
authorize any one or more members of the Debenture Committee to do all things
and execute all documents, instruments and agreements in order to make these
arrangements effective; and
(d)
the authority to enact a by-law authorizing the
City to issue replacement debenture certificates if and when required, to
replace defaced, lost, mysteriously or unexplainably missing, stolen, destroyed
or other instances such as dematerialized debenture certificates on such terms
and conditions considered appropriate including a bond of indemnity as a
condition of issuing replacement debenture certificates;
2. Subject to the approval of
Recommendation 1, the delegation provision contained in Recommendation 1, shall
be held by the Debenture Committee exclusively and shall remain in full
force and effect until the end of the term of City Council at which time this
delegation may be revoked otherwise this delegation remains in effect;
3. Subject to the approval of
Recommendation 1, approve the enactment of amendments to the Procedure By-law
to reflect the notice requirements contained in Document 1 and to the
Delegation of Authority By-law to indicate that the authority to enact the
debenture by-laws has been delegated to the Debenture Committee; and
4. Subject to the approval of
Recommendation 1, amend the Policy on Debt and Financing to reflect the
establishment of the Debenture Committee and the delegations noted in
Recommendation 1.
Que le Comité de vérification, du budget et des
finances recommande au Conseil :
1. de
créer un comité nommé « Comité sur les débentures » conformément au
mandat décrit dans le Document 1 et de déléguer les pouvoirs à ce comité pour
qu’il puisse prendre des décisions finales à l’égard des questions suivantes,
sous réserve que ces pouvoirs n’ont pas déjà été délégués :
(a) Le pouvoir d’édicter des règlements
municipaux sur les débentures visant l’autorisation de l’émission de débentures
dans les situations où le Conseil a approuvé le pouvoir d’endettement pour un
projet et que le trésorier a procédé à l’émission obligataire conformément à l’article
16 de l’Annexe A du Règlement 2009-231, Règlement sur la délégation de
pouvoirs, en ce qui concerne ses modalités d’endettement;
(b) Le pouvoir d’édicter des règlements
d’emprunt temporaire en vertu de l’article 407 de la Loi de 2001 sur les municipalités, qui autorise les emprunts à court terme pour couvrir les dépenses
de l’exercice en cours jusqu’à ce que les impôts soient perçus et que les
autres recettes soient rentrées, et d’autoriser un ou plusieurs membres du
Comité sur les débentures de prendre les mesures nécessaires et de consentir
des prêts ou de conclure d’autres ententes qui sont nécessaires pour contracter
les emprunts temporaires;
(c) Le pouvoir d’édicter les règlements
nécessaires pour conclure des ententes avec CDS Clearing and Depository Services
Inc. (CDS) pour s’assurer que CDS accepte l’émission de nouvelles débentures et
qu’il conserve les débentures actuelles de la Ville dans son système et
autoriser un ou plusieurs membres du Comité sur les débentures à prendre les
mesures nécessaires et à signer tous les documents, instruments et accords
nécessaires pour donner cours aux ententes avec CDS; et
(d) Le pouvoir d’édicter un règlement
autorisant la Ville à émettre, au besoin, des certificats de débenture pour
remplacer les certificats oblitérés, perdus, mystérieusement disparus, volés,
détruits ou dématérialisés selon des conditions jugées appropriées, comme la
production d’un acte de cautionnement avant le remplacement des certificats de
débenture;
2. Sous
réserve de l’approbation de la première recommandation, d’attribuer la
délégation de pouvoirs décrits dans la recommandation exclusivement au Comité
sur les débentures jusqu’à la fin du mandat du Conseil municipal, auquel moment
la délégation pourra être révoquée ou reconduite;
3. Sous
réserve de l’approbation de la première recommandation, d’approuver les
modifications au Règlement de procédure afin de refléter les exigences d’avis
décrites dans le Document 1 et celles apportées au Règlement sur la délégation
de pouvoirs pour préciser que le pouvoir d’édicter des règlements sur les
débentures a été délégué au Comité sur les débentures; et
4. Sous
réserve de l’approbation de la première recommandation, de modifier la
politique sur les dettes et le financement afin de refléter la création du Comité
sur les débentures et la délégation de pouvoirs décrite dans la première
recommandation.
On April 12, 2006, in order to improve operating flexibility and efficiency, Council amended the Delegation of Authority By-Law to delegate to the Treasurer the authority to proceed with debenture issues provided that:
Ÿ the current year's debt servicing budget is not exceeded;
Ÿ the project debt authority has been previously approved by Council; and
Ÿ an information report is brought forward to Council on the conclusion of a debt issue.
Since April 2006, the City has successfully launched
three debenture issues raising a total of $300 million in accordance with the
Delegation of Authority By-law. Once
the terms and conditions of each debenture issue are finalized, a debenture
by-law is placed directly on the next available Council agenda.
On September 26, 2007, Council approved the Fiscal Framework document which provides guidelines for key financial decisions including debt. For capital works, principal and interest payments are not to exceed 7.5% of the City’s own source revenues and the increase in debt service costs in any year for non legacy projects will not be greater than 0.25% of taxes from property. Additional debt may be permitted for identifiable legacy projects that benefit multiple generations.
Each year Council enacts a Temporary Borrowing by-law in accordance with Section 407 of the Municipal Act, 2001 to authorize any short-term borrowings for current purposes which may occur from time to time. The legislation requires this by-law to be adopted each year although the amount required is not changed.
On April 11, 2007 Council adopted a Debt and Financing Policy, which provides the administrative framework and guidelines for issuing short and long-term debt. This report will discuss and recommend improvements to the current debt issue process.
DISCUSSION
Recommendation 1
Currently long-term debt is authorized for specific capital works through the Capital Budget or through a specific report and the Delegation of Authority By-law gives the authority to the City Treasurer to proceed with debenture issues by finalizing the terms and conditions of such issues. However the timing of a debenture issue is still constrained by the requirement for Council to enact debenture by-laws before the financial transaction can be closed and the proceeds from the debenture issue received. Because of the timing of Council meetings this may result in a delay of two to three weeks between the time the terms and conditions for a debenture issue are finalized and the time all the documents are completed and the proceeds received. As new processes are adopted in the financial markets, this timeline is now considered to be relatively long by current standards which can be as short as one week. Occasionally, the City will be required to pay a small premium (1-3 basis points) to investors for a delayed settlement. For a debenture issue of $100 million, this could amount to $10,000 - $30,000 per year. There are also occasions when other debt issuers may be trying to bring forward new debt issues in the capital markets at the same time as the City and it may be appropriate to delay the City’s debenture issue to avoid competing with another issuer for investor interest and funds at the same time.
The additional flexibility on the timing of the City’s debenture issue will also provide the ability to respond more quickly to market opportunities which may arise from time to time to take advantage of attractive interest rates. In addition, there are times during the year when Council meetings are less frequent such as during the summer, which may restrict the timing of a new debenture issue. If Council adopts the recommendation in this report to delegate authority to authorize and sign debenture by-laws, then the constraint of attempting to schedule a debenture issue close to a Council meeting would be removed.
Staff are recommending the establishment of a Debenture Committee in accordance with the Terms of Reference described in Document 1. It is proposed that the Committee be comprised of the Mayor, Vice-Chair, Audit Budget and Finance Committee, the City Treasurer and the City Manager, all of whom are very familiar with the City’s financial matters.
It is recommended that the Debenture Committee be authorized to enact by-laws from time to time authorizing the issuance of debentures, a by-law authorizing arrangements with CDS Clearing and Depository Services Inc. to ensure the City’s debentures are maintained on the CDS system, a by-law authorizing replacement debenture certificates and by-laws related to temporary borrowing. Delegated authority of these functions is permitted under the Municipal Act, 2001 and would improve the City’s access to financial markets and potentially result in savings in its debt service costs as the Committee could meet on shorter notice rather than requiring a full Council meeting to enact the required debenture by-laws.
Under section 23.1(1) of the Municipal Act, 2001, the City is authorized to delegate its powers and duties under the Act including legislative or quasi-judicial powers subject to certain restrictions. The City can only delegate its legislative powers to:
(a) one or more members of its council or a council committee;
(b) a body having at least two members of whom at least 50 percent are,
(ii) individuals appointed by its council,
(iii) a combination of individuals described in the above two subclauses.
A Debenture Committee composed of the members cited above would be consistent with subclause (b)(iii).
(a) Enactment of Debenture By-laws
It is recommended that authority to enact the by-laws authorizing the issuance of debentures be delegated to this Committee in those circumstances where Council has approved the project debt authority, the annual debt charges are within the debt servicing budget as approved by Council and the terms of the debenture issue comply with the City’s Debt and Financing Policy. Since the decision to borrow has previously been approved by Council, and the decision to delegate the authority to proceed with specific debenture issues by the finalization of the terms and conditions thereof has been delegated to the Treasurer, delegating the authority to enact the debenture by-laws would enable the City to act more quickly to take advantage of favourable market situations and thereby possibly reduce costs to the City.
(b) Authorization to enter into Arrangements with CDS
The City and the former Region have issued debentures through the CDS book entry system since 1995. This system allows the City to issue global debenture certificates to CDS rather than issuing a debenture certificate to each individual investor. CDS holds the global debenture certificates and records the holdings in the CDS system of each of its participants (the “Participants”) which use the services of CDS and act on their own behalf or on behalf of beneficial owners (who are clients or customers of the Participants). The Participants record and track the holdings of each individual client or customer. Subsequent sales and re-registrations of debenture certificates are maintained through the CDS and Participant networks. With the CDS system, the City is not required to print and maintain thousands of blank debenture certificates to provide for exchanges and re-registrations of debentures during the term of the debenture issue. It is understood that virtually all Canadian publicly traded stock and bond issues are issued and maintained through the CDS network. The costs of using the CDS book entry system are nominal compared to the costs of printing and safekeeping blank debenture certificates for each debenture issue and recording changes in ownership as debentures are sold and transferred during the term of the debenture issue which may be as long as 20 years.
CDS has introduced changes to its book entry system effective August 1, 2009 which will apply to all Ontario municipalities using the CDS book entry system. These changes are being implemented by CDS to further reduce paper documentation and streamline its processes. A debenture certificate replacement by-law is required to be passed before the new arrangements are entered into with CDS in order to preserve the City’s ability to request indemnification from the debenture holder against any losses which may arise as a result of the need to replace an original debenture certificate.
Since this matter is linked to debenture issuance, it was considered appropriate to delegate the enactment of such by-laws to the Debenture Committee.
(c) Authorization
to Issue Replacement Debenture Certificates
Prior to issuing debentures through CDS, definitive debenture certificates were issued directly to individual registered debentureholders. Occasionally a debenture certificate would be lost or damaged and require replacement. In such circumstances before a replacement certificate would be issued, the registered holder of the debenture certificate would usually be required to provide a bond of indemnity or such other indemnification considered satisfactory to protect the former Region against loss if the original certificate was found and presented for payment.
Although unlikely with CDS, it is nevertheless possible that the City could be requested to issue a replacement certificate in various circumstances such as the loss or defacement of a global debenture certificate. The new CDS procedures provide that CDS will only provide indemnification if the by-laws of the issuer require such indemnification as a condition of issuing a replacement certificate. Accordingly, a debenture certificate replacement by-law is required to be passed before the new arrangements are entered into with CDS in order to preserve the City’s ability to request indemnification from CDS against any losses which may arise as a result of the need to replace an original global debenture certificate.
Again because of the connection to debentures, it would be appropriate to delegate the enactment of this by-law to the Debenture Committee.
(d) Temporary Borrowing By-Law
In accordance with Section 407 of the Municipal Act, 2001, a
municipality may authorize such short-term borrowings for current purposes as
may be required from time to time. The
maximum amount of short-term borrowings that may be outstanding at any one
time, determined in accordance with subsection
(2) of Section 407, is based on the estimated revenues adopted by
Council for the preceding year until the estimated revenues for the current
year have been adopted as provided for in subsection (3).
The consolidated cash position for the City is
normally sufficient to finance its usual daily cash requirements as well as to
allow cash to be invested in a variety of money market investments in order to
optimize investment income.
Occasionally, however, unusual or unanticipated cash shortfalls will
result in overdraft positions. Annually
Council receives a request to enact a temporary borrowing by-law.
Under the existing circumstances with the City having
sufficient cash flow available to meet its operating requirements, the
temporary borrowing by-law is administrative in nature which supports the
credit arrangements which are in place with the City’s banker, Royal Bank of
Canada. Short term borrowings occassionally occur to cover bank overdrafts. On
December 9, 2009 Council enacted By-law 2009-403 a temporary borrowing by-law for 2010 (Report
ACS2009-CMR-FIN-0057). Delegating
authority to enact this by-law in the future to the Debenture Committee would
remove this administrative requirement from Council’s agenda.
Since the parameters for temporary borrowing are
established in the Municipal Act, 2001,this is a routine matter that can
appropiately be delegated to the Debenture Committee.
This is a provision to ensure that the delegation remains in full force and effect and that the delegation is exclusive to the Debenture Committee unless Council revokes such delegation at the end of the term of Council in order to assure external legal counsel that the decisions taken by the Debenture Committee are binding and final.
In order to implement the recommendations to establish the Debenture Committee, it is necessary to amend the Procedure By-law to indicate the procedures to be followed regarding notice both to Committee members and the general public. In view of the routine nature of the authority to be exercised by the Debenture Committee and the necessity for the City to react quickly to market conditions to coincide with investor demand and market liquidity, it was felt that a minimum of two calendar days advance notice of a meeting of the Debenture Committee is sufficient. For the general public, such notice would be provided by public service announcements on the City’s website. A debenture certificate replacement by-law is required to be passed by Council before the new arrangements are entered into with CDS in order to preserve the City’s ability to request indemnification from CDS against any losses which may arise as a result of the need to replace an original global debenture certificate.
The Delegation of Authority By-law currently provides the Treasurer with authority to proceed with a debenture issue in accordance with the provisions of that by-law. After the terms and conditions of the debenture issue have been finalized by the Treasurer the Treasurer and the City Clerk and Solicitor are jointly authorized to place the debenture by-law directly on the Agenda of Council. If the delegation of authority to the Debenture Committee described in this report is authorized by Council, the Delegation of Authority By-law will be amended to indicate that the debenture by-law will go to the Debenture Committee for enactment. The exercise of delegated authority by the Treasurer and the Debenture Committee will then be reported to Council at the earliest opportunity after the debenture issuance. Currently this information report goes to Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee and to Council.
Similarly, the Policy on Debt and Financing that was approved by City Council on April 11, 2007 will require amendments to reflect the establishment of the Debenture Committee and its authority to enact debenture by-laws upon approval of the recommendations.
This is an administrative matter which does not require
public consultation.
Amendments to the Municipal Act, 2001 (the “Act”) that came into effect in January 2007 have expanded a municipality’s ability to delegate its powers. These amendments are now found in sections 23.1 to 23.5 of the Act. Prior to 2007, a municipality was only permitted to delegate powers that were administrative in nature. With the enactment of these amendments, a municipality may now delegate legislative or quasi-judicial powers to one or more members of council or a council committee; to a body having members of whom at least 50% are members of council, individuals appointed by council or a combination thereof or to an officer, employee or agent of the municipality. When authorizing such delegations, Council may place conditions on the delegation. The legislation also specifies certain powers that may not be delegated (including the power to enact zoning by-laws or the adopting of official plans or budgets) but such restrictions do not include by-laws to authorize the issuance of debentures enacted under Part XIII of the Act dealing with debt and investment.
Approving the recommendation will provide more flexibility in issuing debt without diminishing the guidelines provided in the Fiscal Framework, the Debt and Financing Policy approved by Council and the Delegation of Authority By-law 2009-231 authorizing the City Treasurer to proceed with debt issues by finalizing the terms and conditions of such issues. In addition, the change has the potential to reduce debt service charges by up to $30,000 annually on a $100 million debt issue.
RURAL IMPLICATIONS
There are no rural implications to implementing the proposed recommendations in this Report.
Document 1 Terms of Reference
If the recommendations are approved, the City Clerk and Solicitor will prepare a by-law authorizing the delegation of authority described in this report for enactment at the next available Council meeting.
Document 1
· The Debenture Committee shall consist of the following members:
the Vice-Chair, Audit, Budget and Finance Committee;
· The Mayor shall be the Chair of the Debenture Committee and the Vice-Chair, Audit, Budget and Finance Committee shall be the Vice-Chair
· A quorum shall be one-half of all members
· The committee members serve by virtue of their positions and until a successor is appointed
· The Debenture Committee holds this authority exclusively and City Council retains no jurisdiction to revoke this delegation until the end of the term of City Council at which time this delegation may be revoked otherwise this delegation remains in effect
· The Debenture Committee is delegated the authority to make final decisions with respect to the following matters to the extent that the authority has not already been delegated:
(1) the authority to enact debenture by-laws to authorize the issuance of debentures where the project debt authority has been approved by Council and the Treasurer has proceeded with one or more debt issues pursuant to Section 16, Schedule “A” of By-law No. 2009-231, the Delegation of Authority By-law;
(2) the authority to enact temporary borrowing by-laws for current operations in accordance with section 407 of the Municipal Act, 2001 to authorize short term borrowing for the purpose of meeting current expenditures in any year until such time as the taxes are collected and other revenues are received and to authorize any one or more members of the Debenture Committee to do all things and execute any loan or other agreements required to give effect to any temporary borrowing;
(3) the authority to enact the required by-law(s) to enter into new arrangements with CDS Clearing and Depository Services Inc. (“CDS”) to ensure that CDS accepts new debenture issues and maintains existing City debentures in the CDS system and to authorize any one or more members of the Debenture Committee to do all things and execute all documents, instruments and agreements in order to make these arrangements effective;
(4) the authority to enact a by-law authorizing the City to issue replacement debenture certificates if and when required, to replace defaced, lost, mysteriously or unexplainably missing, stolen, destroyed or in other instances such as dematerialized debenture certificates on such terms and conditions considered appropriate including a bond of indemnity as a condition of issuing replacement debenture certificates.
· The Debenture Committee shall provide an information report to Council at the earliest opportunity after each debenture issuance regarding the exercise of its delegated authority
· The Debenture Committee shall meet at the call of the Chair
· The Debenture Committee shall be subject to the provisions of the Procedure By-law save and except that notice will be given to members of the Committee a minimum of two calendar days in advance of the meeting and to the general public via a public service announcement a minimum of two calendar days in advance of the meeting on the City’s website.
· The City Clerk and Solicitor Department will provide meeting management support to the Debenture Committee
ESTABLISHMENT
OF A DEBENTURE COMMITTEE AND DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY TO ENACT DEBENTURE
BY-LAWS, OTHER RELATED BY-LAWS AND Temporary borrowing by-laws for current
purposes
FORMATION D’UN COMITÉ
SUR LES DÉBENTURES ET DÉLÉGATION DE POUVOIRS POUR ÉDICTER DES RÈGLEMENTS
MUNICIPAUX SUR L’ÉMISSION DE DÉBENTURES, des RÈGLEMENTS CONNEXES ET DES
RÈGLEMENTS D’EMPRUNT TEMPORAIRE POUR RÉPONDRE AUX BESOINS ACTUELS
ACS2010-CMR-FIN-0001 city-wide / À l’Échelle de la ville
Moved by Councillor J. Harder
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Terms of
Reference for the Debenture Committee be amended such that, “A quorum
shall be one-half of all members” now read, “A quorum shall be one-half of all
members, with at least one of those members being an elected official.”
CARRIED
Committee then voted on the item as amended.
That the Audit Budget
and Finance Committee recommend Council:
1. Establish
a Committee known as the Debenture Committee in accordance with the Terms of
Reference contained in Document 1 and delegate authority to the Debenture
Committee to make final decisions with respect to the following matters to the
extent that the authority has not already been delegated:
(e) the authority to enact debenture by-laws to authorize the issuance of debentures where the project debt authority has been approved by Council and the Treasurer has proceeded with one or more debt issues pursuant to Section 16, Schedule “A” of By-law No. 2009-231, the Delegation of Authority By-law by finalizing the terms and conditions of such debt issues;
(f)
the authority to enact temporary borrowing by-laws for current
operations in accordance with section 407 of the Municipal Act, 2001 to
authorize short term borrowing for the purpose of meeting current expenditures
in any year until such time as the taxes are collected and other revenues are
received and to authorize any one or more members of the Debenture Committee to
do all things and execute any loan or other agreements required to give effect
to any temporary borrowing;
(g)
the authority to enact the required by-law(s) to enter into new
arrangements with CDS Clearing and Depository Services Inc. (“CDS”) to ensure
that CDS accepts new debenture issues and maintains existing City debentures in
the CDS system and to authorize any one or more members of the Debenture
Committee to do all things and execute all documents, instruments and
agreements in order to make these arrangements effective; and
(h)
the authority to enact a by-law authorizing the
City to issue replacement debenture certificates if and when required, to
replace defaced, lost, mysteriously or unexplainably missing, stolen, destroyed
or other instances such as dematerialized debenture certificates on such terms
and conditions considered appropriate including a bond of indemnity as a
condition of issuing replacement debenture certificates;
2. Subject to
the approval of Recommendation 1, the delegation provision contained in Recommendation
1, shall be held by the Debenture Committee exclusively and shall remain
in full force and effect until the end of the term of City Council at which
time this delegation may be revoked otherwise this delegation remains in
effect;
3. Subject to
the approval of Recommendation 1, approve the enactment of amendments to the
Procedure By-law to reflect the notice requirements contained in Document 1 and
to the Delegation of Authority By-law to indicate that the authority to enact
the debenture by-laws has been delegated to the Debenture Committee;
4. Subject to
the approval of Recommendation 1, amend the Policy on Debt and Financing to
reflect the establishment of the Debenture Committee and the delegations noted
in Recommendation 1; and
5. That the Terms of Reference for the
Debenture Committee be amended such that, “A quorum shall be one-half of
all members” now read, “A quorum shall be one-half of all members, with at
least one of those members being an elected official.”
CARRIED as amended