Building Investment, Finance and Audit Committee (BIFAC) Meeting - October 19, 2016

Public Agenda

1. Chair's Remarks

Action: Information

Pre-read: Verbal Report

Presenter: Chair

2. Consent Agenda

A) Approval of Public Meeting Agenda

Action: Approval

Pre-read: Agenda

Presenter: Chair

B) Chair’s Poll re: Conflict of Interest

Action: Declaration

Pre-read: Agenda and Conflict of Interest Policy

Presenter: Chair

C) Confirmation of the Public Meeting Minutes of September 28, 2016

Action: Approval

Pre-read: Minutes

Presenter: Chair

D) Business Arising from the Public Meeting Minutes and Action Items Update

Action: Information

Pre-read: Action Item List

Presenter: Chair

E) Access to TCHC Parking Facilities – Supplemental Report

Action: Information

Pre-read: BIFAC:2016-136

Presenter: Senior Manager, Commercial & Business Development

3. Internal Audit Reports

A) Complaints Received January 1, 2016 to June 30, 2016 (deferred from September 28th Meeting)

Action: Information

Pre-read: BIFAC:2016-123

Presenter: Chief Internal Auditor

B) TCHC Employees Who are Also TCHC Tenants (deferred from September 28th Meeting)

Action: Information

Pre-read: BIFAC:2016-124

Presenter: Chief Internal Auditor

C) Internal Audit Report: Rent Geared to Income Calculation Review 2015 Supplementary Report (deferred from September 28th Meeting)

Action: Information

Pre-read: BIFAC:2016-125

Presenter: Chief Internal Auditor

D) Internal Audit Report on Contract Managed Properties 

Action: Information

Pre-read: BIFAC:2016-137

Presenter: Chief Internal Auditor

TERMINATION

Public Meeting Minutes

The Building Investment, Finance and Audit Committee (“BIFAC” or “Committee”) of Toronto Community Housing Corporation (“TCHC”) held a public meeting on October 19th, 2016 in the Main Floor Conference Room, 931 Yonge Street, Toronto, commencing at 8:47 a.m.

Committee Directors Present:

Colin Lynch, Chair

Vincent Gasparro

Kevin Marshman

Director Absent:

Councillor Ana Bailão, Vice Chair

Ex-officio Director in Attendance:

Norman “Bud” Purves

Other Director in Attendance:

Catherine Wilkinson

Management Present:

Leslie Gash, Acting Vice President, Development

Ismail Ibrahim, Director of Compliance and Legal Counsel

Mark Johnson, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

Sylvia Kobal, Senior Director, Procurement

Graham Leah, Vice President, Asset Management

Rose-Ann Lee, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer (Interim)

Ted Millward, Legal Counsel, Corporate

Sheila Penny, Vice President, Facilities Management

Greg Spearn, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer/ Chief Development Officer

Wayne Tuck, Chief Operating Officer

Michael Vear, Chief Internal Auditor

A quorum being present, the Chair called the meeting to order and Mr. Steven Iserhoff served as recording secretary.

Deputations

Verbal deputations were received at the meeting with respect to the following items

• Robert Fredrickson (Item 3B)

Item 1 - Chair's Remarks

No remarks were made by Chair at this time.

Item 2A - Consent Agenda

Motion carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Mr. Marshman, seconded by Mr. Gasparro and carried, the BIFAC unanimously approved Consent Agenda Items 2A, 2C and 2D as presented.

Item 2B -  Declaration of Conflict of Interest

The Chair requested members of the BIFAC to indicate any agenda item in which they had a conflict of interest, together with the nature of the conflict. None were declared.

Item 2E - Access to TCHC Parking Facilities – Supplemental Report, BIFAC:2016-136

The BIFAC had before it the above-captioned report (BIFAC:2016-136)

Valesa Faria, Senior Manager, Commercial & Business Development, presented the report.

The Committee asked for clarification regarding “tenants currently paying below these levels continue to be subject to annual increases of $5 to their monthly charge.” Management advised that tenants paying below the approved rate have their monthly parking rate increased by $5 each year until their charges meet the approved rate ($75/month in central Toronto and $50/month in other regions of the city).

The Committee noted that many tenants have difficulty with the current barcode stickers attached to the windshield of their cars. Management noted they are looking at phasing out barcode stickers and replacing them with tags that hang from the rear view mirror. 

The Committee also discussed the importance of re-evaluating subsidized parking given the trend in city planning to discourage the use of cars and promote the use of public transit. 

Action Item

Management to undertake a review the Parking Policy and the parking rates and report back to the Committee in 2017. The report is to include the number of vacant parking spots. 

Motion Carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Mr. Marshman, seconded by Mr. Gasparro and carried, the BIFAC unanimously received the report for information.

Item 3A - Internal Audit Report: Complaints Received January 1, 2016 to June 30, 2016, BIFAC:2016-123

The BIFAC had before it the above-captioned report (BIFAC:2016-123)

The Committee discussed the purpose of the “Do What’s 
Right” Hotline and enquired as to the focus of the hotline. Management noted that the focus is to report fraud, although many other complaints come through the hotline. 

The Committee and Management noted the importance of the deterrent effect of the hotline. The importance of having a fraud hotline as a mechanism tenants can use for reporting illicit activities was also discussed. Management noted that fraud hotlines have become an internal control best practice across many sectors. 

The Committee discussed trending the information drawn from the Fraud Hotline since 2012, and indicated its support for quarterly reporting on complaints from Internal Audit.

Motion Carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Mr. Purves seconded by Mr. Gasparro and carried, the BIFAC unanimously received the report for information.

Item 3B - Internal Audit Report: TCHC Employees Who are Also TCHC Tenants, BIFAC:2016-124

The BIFAC had before it the above-captioned report (BIFAC:2016-124)

The following person deputed this item:

• Robert Fredrickson

Management noted that to obtain the sample of 15 employees, they selected employees that had a higher probability of misreporting their income.

The Committee asked if there has been action taken to recuperate the lost revenue from the tenants from the sample that were found to have misreported their income. Management noted the processes in place to retroactively charge tenants in these circumstances to recover lost revenue. Management will update the Committee by e-mail on the outcome of how the tenants in the sample who misreported their income are dealt with. 

The Committee discussed not conflating an employee fraud issue with a tenant fraud issue, and noted that both tracks should be pursued independently. 

Management noted that due to privacy issues, a policy and protocol is recommended for TCHC to use and share personal information in its capacity as both an employer and a landlord in order to address this issue in a transparent manner.

Motion Carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Mr. Purves, seconded by Mr. Gasparro and carried, the BIFAC unanimously received the report for information.

Item 3C - Internal Audit Report: Rent Geared to Income Calculation Review 2015 Supplementary Report, BIFAC:2016-125

The BIFAC had before it the above-captioned report (BIFAC:2016-125)

The Committee and Management briefly discussed the report. Regarding the source of the sample, Management advised that they audit the sample that PwC provides to them to audit. 

Motion Carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Mr. Purves, seconded by Mr. Gasparro and carried, the BIFAC unanimously received the report for information.

Item 3D - Internal Audit Report: Contract Managed Properties, BIFAC:2016-137

The BIFAC had before it the above-captioned report (BIFAC:2016-137)

The Committee noted that Management should consider modernizing the KPIs. The Committee noted that it appears that the vendors seem to be managing the metrics rather than focusing on meeting the obligations under the contract. Management noted that there is work under way to modernize the KPIs, which will be discussed further in the closed session.

The Committee noted that regular auditing of the performance of the vendors needs to be clearly established in any future contracts. 

Motion Carried

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Mr. Purves, seconded by Mr. Gasparro and carried, the BIFAC unanimously received the report for information.

TERMINATION

The BIFAC resolved to terminate the public meeting at 9:37 a.m.