Municipal Finance Policy Branch Direction des politiques relatives aux finances municipales 777 Bay Street, 13th Floor 777, Rue Bay, 13e étage Toronto ON M5G 2E5 Toronto ON M5G 2E5 Phone: (416) 585-6310 Téléphone: (416) 585-6310 Fax: (416) 585-6315 Télécopieur: (416) 585-6315 November 29, 2007 To Municipal Treasurers and Municipal Auditors: I am pleased to inform you that the FIR2007, including the MPMP schedules, is now available for downloading at the FIR website: http://csconramp.mah.gov.on.ca/fir/welcome.htm All information on the FIR website, including the FIR2007, Instructions and Start-Up Guide has also been updated and are available for downloading. As in previous years, a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet will be used for 2007 FIR reporting. Please remember that only FIR's which have been created by the Ministry and downloaded from the FIR website will be acceptable means of submission. Although some minor content changes and improvements have been made, the functionality of the FIR2007 remains very similar to previous years. For a complete list of content changes, please refer to the FIR2007 Content Changes document available at the FIR website. Before downloading and completing the FIR/MPMP Schedules, we recommend that you print the FIR2007 Start-Up Guide for reference. For those of you already familiar with the FIR, we have attached a quick reference sheet to this letter. Once again, the deadline for completing the FIR and MPMP Schedules will be May 31, 2008. I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that filing your FIR and MPMP data by the deadline is a requirement under the Municipal Act, 2001. It is also critical for enabling the province to calculate and reconcile Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) allocations. After the FIR has been completed without any critical errors, it may be submitted by email to: FIR.mah@ontario.ca Audit Questionnaires should also be submitted to your local Municipal Services Office. /2 Municipal Performance Measurement Program (MPMP) Your municipality will be formally notified, via a letter from Minister Watson, of the MPMP measures and requirements for the 2007 reporting year. As in previous years, during the course of 2007 Working Groups comprised of municipal volunteers and subject matter experts reviewed the MPMP measures and have made recommendations for improvement. For the 2007 reporting year the changes are relatively minor: * The general government efficiency measure has been simplified. * A new parks and recreation efficiency measure has been introduced that measures the combined costs of recreation programs and facilities. * The effectiveness measure for the location of new development has been revised to eliminate double counting. Detailed instructions for the 2007 performance measures and workbooks to assist in completing the library measures will be posted on the FIR website. Other Information Financial Statements, including a signed Auditors Report can be submitted electronically to: FIR.mah@ontario.ca It is preferred the Municipalities submit a PDF (Portable Document Format) version of the Financial Statements, although other formats such as WordPerfect, Word or Excel would also be acceptable. Municipalities that choose to submit their Financial Statements electronically are no longer required to send hard copies to their local Municipal Service Office. FIR data (excluding MPMP Schedules) from 2002 onwards can now be viewed at the FIR website either "By Municipality" or "By Schedule". Look for the "View FIR Data" links on the FIR website to access the data. Should you have any questions or require assistance with completing the FIR and/or MPMP, please contact; Al Horsman (FIR) at (416) 585-6299, Bohdan Wynnycky (MPMP) at (416) 585-6638, or your nearest Municipal Services Office. Sincerely, Janet Hope Director, Municipal Finance Policy Branch cc: Directors, MMAH Municipal Services Offices Andrew Posluns, Director, Intergovernmental Relations and Partnerships Branch Allan Doheny, Director, Ministry of Finance