Member Accountability and Disclosure Reports -
Introduction
Member Accountability and Disclosure Reports (the Reports) are prepared in accordance with the Members’ Resources and Allowances Rules and the Publication Scheme as approved by the House of Assembly Management Commission.
Subsection 11(1) of the Members’ Resources and Allowances Rules (the Rules) states: “Twice in each fiscal year the Clerk shall prepare a statement summarizing by category of expenditure the amounts paid in respect of which claims were made and paid against the allowances that each Member is entitled to access”.
Subsection 11(3) states “Within 21 days of the receipt of a statement under this section, a Member shall sign the statement acknowledging its accuracy or may state in writing to the Speaker objections that he or she has with respect to its accuracy”.
Subsection 13(2) of the Rules states: “The Clerk shall post for public access and inspection a copy of each statement and objections, on a website maintained and operated by or on behalf of the Office of the Speaker”.
The reports include all transactions which have been processed through government’s Financial Management System (FMS) for each month. At the end of each month, the system-month is “closed”. As a result, any credit or other adjustments/corrections which are identified after the month is closed are entered in FMS in a subsequent month. The original transaction and any related adjustments are separate items on the reports.
Objections under Subsection 11(3) may arise because an identified adjustment has not yet been entered in a subsequent month in FMS so not yet reflected in the Members’ Reports.
The types and amounts of allowances and resources allocations and expenditures incurred may differ among Members. For example, the geographic size and location of a constituency will affect Members’ allocations and expenditures related to intra-constituency and extra-constituency travel, while the number of constituents in a constituency will affect expenditures related to office operational expenses, such as printing of brochures and related postage costs.
Categories of Allowances
The Reports include expenditures incurred by, or on behalf of, Members to assist them in fulfilling their public duties and responsibilities as Members of the House of Assembly. They reflect the four main categories of allowances as provided for in the Rules: Office Allowances, Operational Resources, Travel and Living Allowances and Constituency Allowance. Detailed information on these categories and the related Members’ allocations can be found in the Members’ Resources and Allowances Rules.Types of Reports
Two types of reports are published on the House of Assembly website – a Summary Report of all expenditures and Detailed Reports for each category and sub-category. The descriptions of these reports reflect the most current reports posted to the website.1. Summary Report
Expenditures Summarized by Category - summarizes the allocations and expenditures for each category and sub-category of allowance included in the detailed reports.
This report has six columns as follows:
- Allowance Category - the category and sub-category (if applicable) for all allowances.
- Expenditure Limit for Fiscal Year 2011/12 (Net of HST) - the Member’s expenditure limit (if applicable) for each allowance category or sub-category for the fiscal year. If the report does not show an expenditure limit, then a maximum dollar amount has not been set for that category or sub-category. Instead, other limits/restrictions have been set for that allowance. For example, Members are entitled to reimbursement for 20 return trips to the Capital Region or District while the House is not in Session, but no set dollar limit is associated with these trips.
- Expenditures Processed 01-Apr-11 to 30-Sep-11 (Net of HST) - the expenditures charged to each allowance category or sub-category.
- Expenditures Year to Date 01-Apr-11 to 30-Sep-11 (Net of HST) - total expenditures charged to each allowance category or sub-category for the period 1 April 2011 to 30 September 2011.
- Funds Available (Net of HST) - the Member’s allocation for each allowance category or sub-category that has not been spent by the Member during the fiscal year.
- Percent Expended to Date - the percentage of the Member’s allocation for each category or sub-category that has been spent during the fiscal year.
The nine detailed reports provide information on each category or sub-category as created by the Members’ Resources and Allowances Rules:
- Office Allowances - Office Accommodations – accommodations costs related to the rental of a permanent constituency office or rental of meeting rooms if a Member does not establish a permanent constituency office in his/her district. (Refer to Sections 18 and 19)
- Office Allowances - Rental of Short-term Accommodations - costs of short-term accommodation rentals to facilitate travel throughout the district to meet with residents on constituency issues. (Refer to Subsection 19(2))
- Office Allowances - Office Start-up Costs - costs related to the start-up of a constituency office. This is only available to Members who were elected to the House of Assembly for the first time on or after 9 October 2007. (Refer to Subsection 19(4))
- Office Allowances - Office Operations - operational costs associated with operating a constituency office, including costs of office supplies, advertising, printing, etc. (Refer to Section 24)
- Operational Resources - costs related to office furniture, equipment and services (phones, fax, cable, etc.) based on a standard office allocation. (Refer to Section 25)
- Travel and Living Allowances - House in Session - costs of transportation, meals and accommodations associated with travel from the constituency to St. John’s or from St. John’s to the constituency while the House is in session. (Refer to Part VI)
- Travel and Living Allowances - House Not in Session - costs of transportation, meals and accommodations associated with travel from the constituency to St. John’s or from St. John’s to the constituency during periods when the House is not in session. (Refer to Part VI)
- Travel and Living Allowances – Intra-Constituency and Extra-Constituency Travel - costs of transportation, meals and accommodations associated with travel within the Member’s constituency or other travel on constituency-related business. (Refer to Part VI)
- Constituency Allowance - costs associated with specified expenditures such as meals or bulk purchases of food; memberships in community organizations; travel to conferences, etc. (Refer to Section 46)
- Date – the receipt or invoice date, or the start/end date for the period of an expense claim.
- Source Document # - the invoice or claim number or other document identifier.
- Vendor Name – name of the supplier/individual to whom the payment was made.
- Expenditure Details - a description of the expenditure item.
- Amount – the amount of the expenditure (net of HST) for each item.
 |