3933 To establish retention periods for records of the Town of Tillsonburg and to repeal By-Law 3558THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF TILLSONBURG
BY-LAW NO. 3933
A BY-LAW to establish retention periods for records of the Town ofTillsonburg, and to repeal By-Law
No.3558.
WHEREAS subsection 254(1) of the Municipal Act 2001, S. 0. 2001, c.25 as amended,
(Municipal Act) provides that a municipality shall retain and preserve its records in a secure
and accessible manner; and
WHEREAS subsection 255(3) of the Municipal Act 2001, S.O. 2001, c.25 as amended,
provides that a municipality may subject to the approval of the municipal auditor, establish
retention periods during which the records of the municipality and local boards of the
municipality must be retained and preserved; and
WHEREAS subsection255(2) of the Municipal Act 2001, S.O. 2001, c.25 as amended,
provides that a municipality's records may be destroyed if a retention period for the record
has been established and the retention has expired; and
WHEREAS the Council of The Corporation of the Town ofTillsonburg deems it expedient
to update the Town's Records Retention By-Law;
NOW THEREFORE the Council of The Corporation of the Town ofTillsonburg HEREBY
ENACTS AS FOLLOWS:
1. DEFINITIONS:
Auditor: The person or firm appointed by the Council from time to time to perform the
annual audit of the records of the Town ofTillsonburg.
Archival Selection: Means to evaluate and appraise a record for permanent retention
because of its historical value.
Classification: (as in records classification) Shall mean the systematic identification and
arrangement of records into categories according to logically structured conventions,
methods, and procedural rules, represented in a classification scheme.
Destroy: Means the process of eliminating or deleting data, documents and records so that
the recorded information no longer exists.
Destruction: The final phase of a record's lifecycle, and can take place by shredding,
recycling, or deleting (electronic).
Disposition: (with respect to records) Means a range of processes, associated actions and
implementation, including: retention, destruction, loss, or transfer of custody or ownership
which is documented in disposition authorities or other instruments.
Records: Means any record of information however recorded (print, film, electronic or
otherwise and includes: correspondence, memoranda, books, plans, maps, drawings,
diagrams, pictures, films, microfiche, sound recording, video, or any other documented
material regardless of physical form or characteristics.
Responsible Department: Is a column heading in the retention schedule and identifies the
department with the primary responsibility for retaining the record.
Retention: Means the length of time a record is to be retained before its final disposition.
Retention Descriptions: As described as follows:
C = Current Year
E = Event Trigger (date of event, plus additional years)
P = Permanent (when a record is to be preserved indefinitely)
S = Superseded
*=subject to archival selection (to be reviewed prior to disposal)
Retention Schedule: Means a control document that describes the company's records at a
series level, and indicates the length of time that each series shall be retained before its final
disposition. It specifies those records to be preserved for their archival or legal values, and
authorizes on a continuing basis the destruction of the remaining records after the lapse of a
specified retention period or the occurrence of specified actions or events.
Signing Authority: Means the manager of the responsible department or business unit, or
his/her designate.
TOMRMS: Meaning the Ontario Municipal Records Management System.
Town: Means the Corporation of the Town ofTillsonburg.
Transitory Record: Means a record that has temporary usefulness and is only required for
the completion of a routine action, and should be discarded as soon as is practicable. These
include, but are not restricted to:
i. Duplicate copies of documents retained only for distribution or as a convenience
copy.
n. Unsolicited advertising information.
Iii. Draft letters, memos, informal notes that do not represent significant steps in the
preparation of the final document.
IV. Publications, directories, brochures, catalogues, or other promotional information that
is out of date and no longer useful.
v. Emails and voicemail having only temporary value.
vi. Business not related to the Town.
2. ADMINISTRATION & RESPONSffiiLITY
a. The Clerk or his/her designate shall be responsible for administering this by-law
and ensuring compliance with this by-law.
b. The Clerk or his/her designate, in consideration of the TOMRMS classification
system, shall determine the appropriate classification of records taking into
account the legal, financial, administrative, operational, and historical values of
each record.
c. That authority for establishing and amending retention periods for the records of
The Corporation of the Town ofTillsonburg shall be delegated to the Town Clerk
subject to the approval of the Town Auditor of such schedules.
d. That the Records Retention Schedule attached hereto as Schedule "A" be adopted
and the Town Clerk be authorized to amend the schedule from time to time.
e. That the Town Clerk submit a report to Council a minimum of every four years
regarding the status of the Records Retention By-Law and attached Schedule.
3. RETENTION SCHEDULE
a The retention schedule attached as Schedule "A" forms part of this by-law.
4. PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THE DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS
a. No records shall be destroyed unless first classified according to this by-law.
b. The retention period has expired, or the record is transitory in nature.
c. All records containing sensitive, private, or personal information shall be
destroyed in a manner that preserves the confidentiality of any information
contained in such records.
d. Any record pertaining to pending or actual litigation or investigation, or a
pending FOI request, shall not be destroyed until such record is no longer
required for such purposes.
e. All record destruction notices are to be retained by the Clerk's Office.
5. PROCEDURES FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS
Where a record may be destroyed after its retention period has expired under this by-law, the
following procedures shall apply:
a The Clerk or his/her designate shall notifY the appropriate signing authority in
writing of the scheduled destruction of the record, including a list of records to be
destroyed and the scheduled destruction date.
b. The signing authority shall notifY the Clerk or his/her designate in writing, before
the scheduled destruction date, whether any of the records need to be retained
past the scheduled destruction date, and the reason why it is necessary.
c. If no such extension of retention is deemed necessary by the signing authority,
he/she shall sign the prescribed form to consent to the destruction of the records.
The Clerk or his/her designate shall retain the signed consent form.
6. CITINGOFBY-LAW
a. This by-law shall be known as the "Records Retention By-Law".
7. REPEALOFBY-LAW
a. That By-Law No. 3558 be hereby repealed in its entirety.
8. APPROVAL OF BY -LAW
a. This by-law shall take effect upon approval by the Town's Auditor.
b. This By-Law shall come into force and effect innnediately upon the final passing
thereof.
Read a First and Second Time this 14th day of September, 2015.
Read a Third and Final Time and passed this 14th day of September, 2015.
ayor -Stephen Molnar
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Town Clerk-Donna Wilson
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