To:Corporate Services Committee
From:City Clerk - Audit Committee
Subject:Review of Parking Tag Operations
Recommendation:
The Audit Committee recommends to the Corporate Services Committee the adoption of
the report (December 23, 1998) from the City Auditor.
Background:
The Audit Committee, at its meeting on March 1, 1999, had before it a report
(December23,1998) from the City Auditor respecting Review of Parking Tag Operations, and
recommending that:
(1)in preparing the 1998 financial statements, management should provide an additional
allowance for doubtful accounts of $6.4 million relating to parking tag receivables. In
addition, a projected final collection rate of 78 percent should be used for accrual purposes at
1998 year end;
(2)Parking Tag Operations (PTO) staff review its current arrangement with the Ministry of
Transportation (TO) relating to the administration of plate denial and enter into a formal
agreement with TO which outlines the administrative responsibilities of the respective parties
regarding the collection of parking fines at plate denial;
(3)priority be given to the reconciliation of PTO records with TO records to ensure that all
tags filed for plate denial are in fact awaiting collection at plate denial. This reconciliation
should be done at least annually;
(4)PTO staff perform an analysis of the tags outstanding at plate denial, investigate the
reasons for the delay of their collection and assess their current collectability. In addition,
management should evaluate TO's collection procedures and take appropriate action to ensure
that reliance can be placed on the Ministry's processes for the collection of outstanding fines
at plate denial;
(5)the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer and the City Solicitor report to the Corporate
Services Committee on the changes required to the current provincial legislation and
regulations, to enable the City to collect outstanding fines at any stage, as well as to use
private collection agencies in this regard;
(6)PTO staff work with the Ministry to actively pursue collection of the old outstanding
fines at plate denial, specifically those individuals or companies identified as owing more than
$5,000;
(7)the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer meet with the appropriate senior Ministry
officials to expedite the resolution of the issues relating to the plate denial process in order to
improve the collection of outstanding fines at plate denial;
(8)in view of the loss of revenue from parking tags issued to out-of-province vehicles,
management pursue with the Province of Ontario the extension of reciprocal agreements with
other Canadian provinces and United States cities, to parking violations. Consideration should
also be given to assigning the outstanding fines relating to out-of-province vehicles to a
private collection agency;
(9)in consultation with the City Solicitor, management request an appropriate change in
legislation to provide an alternative means of serving parking tags to drove-away vehicles,
which could include mailing the notice of infraction;
(10)the Parking Enforcement Unit of the Toronto Police Services report to the Corporate
Services Committee on the reasons for the increase in the number of spoiled tags and the
action that will be taken to keep this number to a minimum;
(11)the current report from the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer relating to parking tags
be modified to include additional management information such as the total number of tags
written, spoiled, available for collection, withdrawn, status of outstanding fines, including
those that are issued to out-of-province vehicles, as well as an analysis of any significant
trends or problem areas; and that this report be submitted to the Corporate Services
Committee on a quarterly basis, rather than monthly;
(12)PTO management establish key indicators to monitor the activity with respect to the
issuance and processing of parking tags. This should include monitoring the number of
spoiled tags, withdrawn tags, illegible tags, etc. In this regard, management should designate
an individual the responsibility for this function as well as for the analysis of trends and the
provision of relevant reports to management;
(13)PTO management utilize other available tools and resources within the City to generate
customized reports to facilitate the review and monitoring of activity within PTO and
discontinue the need to manually re-input data;
(14)the monthly reconciliation of the Parking Tag Management System (PTMS) to the
general ledger be reviewed and approved by the Manager of PTO;
(15)PTO management make arrangements for the First Appearance Facilities to deposit all
monies directly to the nearest financial institution, having a banking arrangement with the
City;
(16)a transaction report showing the details of all tags withdrawn be provided to all First
Appearance Facilities locations. To help ensure compliance with the guidelines, the respective
supervisors should scan the transaction report and, on a test basis, examine the supporting
documentation of tag withdrawals. Evidence of such review should be documented in writing;
(17)priority be given to acquiring the required computer server for the Parking Tag
Management System and making the necessary arrangements with the appropriate provincial
ministries and financial institutions to ensure that all computer systems related to parking tag
operations are Year 2000 compliant by September 1999, as planned;
(18)PTO management develop an action plan with specific time lines to implement the
recommendations contained in this report; and
(19)that this report be forwarded to the Corporate Services Committee for consideration.
City Clerk,
Audit Committee
Frances M. Pritchard 392-7033
990301.6
attachment
Copy sent to:City Auditor