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David Allen

    ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE SERVICE DELIVERY: “Projects have a beginning, a middle, and an end. But the asset management parade never ends – it is cyclic,” stated Bill Sims (Winter 2023 issue of Asset Management BC Newsletter)


    “A key consideration is intergenerational equity. This is finding the right balance between spreading the cost of services over citizens who benefit now and in the future without burdening future generations with the inability to sustain services. It is a core responsibility of a Council – enshrined in BC’s Community Charter – to provide for the stewardship of the public assets of the community.. It’s critical to ensure we are facing the right direction. Our role is to leave our communities a better place than we found them and pass the torch to the next generation,” stated Bill Sims.

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    ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE SERVICE DELIVERY: “Asset management is not new. What is new are the accounting standards around asset management and the attention being paid to a long-term financial strategy to support it,” wrote Khalie Genereaux, Deputy Director of Finance with the City of Terrace (Winter 2023 issue of Asset Management BC Newsletter)


    “The Public Service Accounting Board. PSAB 3150 requires local governments to amortize their tangible capital assets over their expected useful life. Prior to 2009, there were no standards in place for the valuation and deterioration of the local government assets. Consequently, the funding for renewal and replacement has not always been top of mind or top priority. As many of our aging communities are seeing their assets reach the end of their useful lives, the funding portion can no longer be ignored. If it is, we could all see ourselves declaring a local state of emergency,” wrote Khalie Genereaux.

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    ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE SERVICE DELIVERY: “Provide a consistent, reliable level of service that saves $millions over time and builds community resilience in an increasingly risky climate,” wrote Kim Fowler of the Regional District of Nanaimo (Winter 2023 issue of Asset Management BC Newsletter)


    “How do you do a budget if you don’t know what assets you have, their condition and when they need to be replaced? Climate change is increasing risk by damaging assets. And while the focus of your asset management plan should be integration with your long-term capital budget, don’t overlook the ‘master asset management plan’, otherwise known as your Official Community Plan (OCP). They set the locations and standards of future growth in your community, and as a result, set the core infrastructure needs and their associated costs,” stated Kim Fowler.

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    WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO A NEW COUNCIL ABOUT ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE SERVICE DELIVERY? – “What a great article series in this newsletter! So many perspectives – I love the concept of all the different voices,” praised Sarah MacFord, Knowledge Mobilization Officer with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (February 2023)


    In Fall 2018, after province-wide local government elections in British Columbia, the Asset Management BC Newsletter presented a range of perspectives to inform the newly elected about Asset Management for Sustainable Service Delivery in British Columbia. Asset Management BC did the same again with the Winter 2023 issue. The set of 9 articles again provide guidance and advice for new Councils from a continuum of perspectives. “It was very interesting to see what each of them chose to focus on and the language they chose to speak to Council with,” noted Sarah MacFord.

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    BRITISH COLUMBIA’S 2023 ELECTED OFFICIALS SEMINAR SERIES: “Asset management focused on sustainable service delivery is fundamental to helping local government and First Nation communities achieve their primary purposes,” wrote David Allen, Executive Director (Winter 2023 issue of Asset Management BC Newsletter)


    “BC’s Local Government Leadership Academy was one of the first local government organizations to recognize the importance of leadership in “stewardship” and the important role of asset management as the path to sustainable service delivery. Held every four years, following the BC local government elections, the Elected Officials Seminar series organized by the Academy includes stops in each of UBCM’s five Area Associations, providing a 3-day orientation and networking program on roles and responsibilities, stewardship, and good governance,” stated David Allen.

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    ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE SERVICE DELIVERY: “Why do we need elected officials? This is an important question and often poorly understood. Council is not elected to be helpful to staff or to tell them how to deliver services,” wrote Christina Benty, former Mayor of Golden, BC (Winter 2023 issue of Asset Management BC Newsletter)


    “Local government was created to provide a broad range of localized services and functions on behalf of the Provincial Government that have a direct impact on the health, safety, and quality of life for the residents of the community. Local government exists as a service provider. These services are collectively agreed upon and paid for. Local government has been granted the tools to collect revenue to pay for those services in the form of local property taxes and user fees,” stated Christina Benty.

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    ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE SERVICE DELIVERY: “Often, we pay most attention to the upfront costs and forget that those costs are only a fraction of the money that needs to be spent on an asset over its lifetime,” wrote Kristy Bobbie, Asset Manager with the City of Prince George (Winter 2023 issue of Asset Management BC Newsletter)


    “One of the key responsibilities of a Council is to provide for stewardship of the public asset of its community. Asking staff to provide you with a full life cycle cost analysis is the key to ensuring decisions about new assets are made with all the facts in mind. Existing and future generation taxpayers are depending on you, as today’s Council, to make the right decisions for the community and to spend our limited financial resources wisely. This includes knowing what existing assets need to be replaced and when or when not to move forward on a big shiny project,” stated Kristy Bobbi.

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    ACCOUNTANTS DO NOT KNOW HOW TO ACCOUNT FOR NATURAL ASSETS: “The risk with the accounting profession is that they would include natural assets in local government financial statements in a way that is neither meaningful nor helpful,” believes Wally Wells, well-known to BC local governments as an Asset Management Master, Mentor and Coach


    “People look at asset management as a function, but it is not a function. It is a process, and the process for getting you to Sustainable Service Delivery is asset management. You cannot legislate a process. For this reason, I am really, really, really nervous about the way the accounting profession will try to treat natural assets in a financial statement. Accountants do not know how to deal with the subject of natural asset management. If accountants cannot explain it properly, then inclusion of natural assets in PSAB 3150 is either going to be dismissed in practice and/or done poorly. In my view, that is the bottom-line,” stated Wally Wells.

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