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3447 To appoint a Joint Compliance Audit Committee.THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF TILLSONBURG BY-LAW NUMBER 3447 Being a By-law to appoint a Joint Compliance Audit Committee WHEREAS Section 81.1 of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 requires municipalities to appoint Compliance Audit Committees to deal with matters regarding election campaign finances before October 1 in an election year. AND WHEREAS the Township of Norwich, Township of Southwest Oxford, Township of Zorra, Township of East Zorra-Tavistock, Town of Tillsonburg and Town of Ingersoll deem it expedient to establish a Joint Compliance Audit Committee. NOW THEREFORE THE COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF TILLSONBURG ENACTS AS FOLLOWS: 1. THAT a Committee, to be known as the Joint Compliance Audit Committee, is hereby established to deal with the matters provided for in Section 81 of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996. 2. THAT the Joint Compliance Audit Committee shall consist of the individuals listed in Schedule "A" who will be utilized to deal with each compliance audit request in accordance with the Terms of Reference attached hereto as Schedule "B". 3. THAT the business of the Joint Compliance Audit Committee be conducted in accordance with the Terms of Reference set out in Schedule "B" attached hereto, which shall form part of this By-law. 4. AND THAT this By-law shall come into force and take effect on the date of passage. READ a first and second time this 9th day of September, 2010. READ a third time and passed this 9th day of September, 2010. f. ti ......... " Payor - Stephen Molnar Clerk - Donna Hemeryck SCHEDULE "A" Alex Piggott Duane Malcolm David Morris David Hodgson Keith Reibling SCHEDULE "B" TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR JOINT COMPLIANCE AUDIT COMMITTEE MANDATE The powers and functions of the Committee are set out in Section 81 of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996. Within 30 days of receipt of an application requesting a compliance audit, the Committee shall consider the compliance audit application and decide whether it should be granted or rejected; If the application is granted, the Committee shall appoint an auditor to conduct a compliance audit of the candidate's election campaign finances; The Committee will review the auditor's report within 30 days of receipt and decide whether legal proceedings should be commenced; and If the auditor's report indicates that there were no apparent contraventions and if it appears that there were no reasonable grounds for the application, the Committee shall advise Council accordingly and recommend cost attribution. Members of Council, staff or candidates running for office in the municipal election are not eligible to be appointed to the Committee. Should an appointed Member accept employment with any of the member municipalities or register as a candidate with any of the member municipalities, his or her appointment will be terminated. All Committee Members must agree in writing that they will not work for or provide advice to any candidate running for municipal office within the member municipalities. To avoid any potential conflict of interest, applicants with accounting or auditing backgrounds must agree in writing that they will not offer their services to any municipal election candidates. Anyone who has participated as a candidate in a municipal election, conducted by any of the member municipalities, or who has conducted audits or provided financial advice in respect of such an election campaign, is disqualified from participation on the Committee. COMPOSITION The committee shall be composed of not fewer than three and not more than seven members and shall not include: (a) employees or officers of the, municipality or local board; (b) members of the council or local board; or (c) any persons who are candidates in the election for which the committee is established. TERM The term of the Committee is co -terminus with that of Council. CHAIR At the orientation meeting the Committee shall select one of its Members to act as a Chair at the first meeting. PROPOSED MLETiNG SCHEDULE; The committee would be required to meet at least once to participate in an orientation session. Thereafter the Committee shall meet as needed with meetings to be scheduled by the Clerk, in consultation with the Chair, when a compliance audit application is received. STAFFING AND FUNDING Staff from the applicable member municipality shall provide administrative support to the Committee. The member municipality requiring the services of the Committee shall be responsible for all associated expenses. The retainer and orientation meeting costs as well as any advertising relating to the membership ofthe committee shall be shared by the member municipalities. RECORDS The records emanating from meetings of the Joint Compliance Audit Committee shall be retained and preserved by the municipality requesting the services of the Committee in accordance with that municipality's Record Retention By-law. MEETINGS Meetings of the Committee shall be conducted in accordance with the open meeting requirements of the provisions in the Municipal Act, 2001. The websites of the member municipalities will be utilized to communicate the meeting notices and agendas. REMUNERATION FOR EACH MEMBER $400 -Retainer fee split over the term and paid annually ($100/ year). $100 Per diem (plus mileage) for every day that the committee is required to meet. MEMBERSHIP SELECTION All applicants will be required to complete an application form or submit a resume outlining their qualifications and experience. The Clerks of the member municipalities will review the applications and recommend to their Councils the members that should be appointed. SELECTION CRITERIA Given the judicial nature of the committee, members should have accounting and audit experience, academic qualifications (college or university professors with expertise in political science or local government administration), legal professional experience, municipal experience and knowledge of campaign financing rules under the MEA, 1996.