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Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from University of Alberta Libraries https://archive.org/details/tangiblecapitala05albe Alberta Municipal Affairs and Housing Tangi6Ce CapitaCAssets Troject NewsCetter October2007 Number5 Future Key Dates Making a Case for Tangible Capital Assets Planningandprojectworkhas begunin Newsletter No. 6 earnestbymunicipalities across Canada to January 2008 meet the newlocalgovernment accounting standard by2009. Atthe same time, many municipal stakeholders are debatingthe merits ofdeterminingand recordingthe Liaison Committee value oftheirtangible capitalassets. November 2007 8, The newaccounting standard requires that December 2007 13, each municipalityin the countrytake a completeinventoryofits assets, determine the depreciatedvalue ofeach asset, and Alberta Association of record the amountin their annual financial Municipal Districts and statements. Counties Aprincipalreason for the fullreporting Fall Convention oftangible capital assets in municipal November 9—22, 2007 financial statements is to close agapin the financialinformation available to municipal 1 staffand electedofficials. The abilityto make effective decisionswill be enhancedwith knowledge aboutthe costs ofusingassets and fullymaintainingthem overtheiruseful life. Betterinformationwill help decisionmakers to assess municipal sustainabilityand Alberta Urban the need for futureinfrastructure replacementorimprovement. Municipalities Association Deterioratinginfrastructureand effective assetmanagementis aninternational Fall Conv—ention concern. Countries such as the United States,AustraliaandNewZealandrecognize the November 28 30, 2007 issue andhave undertaken similar accountinginitiatives atthelocalgovernmentlevel. Althoughimplementingthis initiativeis adauntingtask formunicipalities, the sooner steps are taken to make a start, thegreaterthe chances ofsuccessfullymeetingthe 2009 Alberta Government deadline. Finance Officers Association Regional Training Sessions January 2008 Local Government Administration Association Annual Conference Red Deer, AB March 2008 LIBRARYANDARCHIVESCANADA Biblioth£queetArchivesCanada Page2 Tangible Capital j You asked about.... “Can mymunicipality allocate funds from the Municipal Sustainability TCA Initiative forcosts related to the project?” TheMunicipalSustainabilityInitiative (MSI) maybe ofinteresttomunicipalities as theyplanandimplementprojects relatedto tangible capitalassets. Implementation costs ofinfrastructuremanagementsystems,includingthe following, are normallyeligible forMSI capitalproject funding: • collectionandinputofinfrastructuredata • purchase and/ordevelopmentofinfrastructure managementsystems,including bothhardware and software, to assistininfrastructureplanningandmanagement, and • system-wide reviewswhere suchreviewswillhave animpact on capital infrastructure expenditures. Municipalinfrastructureoperatingcosts,includingthe following,are normallyeligible forMSI operatingfunding: • collection andinputofinfrastructuredata • resource costs, such as staffcosts and overallprojectmanagementcosts, and • support costs, suchas software maintenance contracts andtechnology support. Additionalinformation,includingMSIguidelines and applicationdocuments, canbe found on theMunicipalAffairs and Housingwebsite at www.municipalaffairs.gov.ab.ca . TCA Toolkit -Itis critical to startyourimplementationnow. The electronic toolkitincludes everythingyou need to begin, such as sample policies and some guidance on how to prepare animplementationplan. The toolkit is available at www.MEnet.ab.ca Project Status Update TheWestern CanadaGovernmentFinance OfficersAssociation recentlyhostedaverysuccessfulconference. Twohundredand fiftydelegates attended sessions onavarietyoftopicsincludingthe TCAproject. Materials from theconferenceareavailableonthe conferenceweb page atwww.calgary.ca. Congratulations to the CityofCalgary forhostingagreatevent. TheAlbertaGovernmentFinance OfficersAssociationis nowmak- ingplans forthe secondphaseoftrainingon thenewaccounting requirements fortangiblecapitalassets. Markyourcalendars for January 2008 forsmallgroupworkshops throughouttheprovince. i i