WHEREAS the Annual Meeting of the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency (SAMA) is usually in early June when councillors are busy seeding and spraying and the administrator is busy collecting the Municipal Hail crop reports; 

BE IT RESOLVED that the SAMA Board be requested to hold their Annual Meeting at a less busy time for the rural area.

Response from Irwin Blank, Chief Executive Officer, Sasktchewan Assessment Management Agency:

By way of background, on December 9, 2004, the SAMA Board of Directors moved to change the standard April date for the Agency annual meeting to June (starting in 2006) due to the tabling timeframe for SAMA's Annual Report: April 30th of any given year. Because of this timeframe, the Board could not officially report, in the month of April, on the content of the Agency's most recent annual report. Delegates disapproved of SAMA not reporting, or making available, the Agency's audited financial status.

However, since June 2006, delegate attendance at SAMA's annual meeting has noticeably declined because of our stakeholders' various commitments, including the commitments stipulated in SARM's March 2009 SAMA annual meeting resolution.

Although SAMA's 2009 meeting will still take place in Regina on June 17, 2009 due to contract and scheduling obligations, the SAMA Board of Directors has determined to change the annual meeting date to the month of April for 2010. At its April 24th, 2009 meeting, the SAMA Board of Directors passed the following motion:

7166/09

Moved by J. Wagner that the Board direct Administration to:

1. determine a date in the month of April for the 2010 SAMA Annual Meeting; and,

2. explore location and meeting facility options for the 2010 SAMA Annual Meeting and bring back an Information Item to the Board of Directors.

Carried

The Agency will hold its annual meeting in Saskatoon in April 2010. We will provide SARM and our other stakeholders with the specific date, time and location as soon as they are established.

The SAMA Board has established a Governance Committee to regularly review the Board's operating policies, and recommend changes to the Board as appropriate. The timing and scope of SAMA's Annual Meeting is one of the policies currently under this committee's review.

SAMA appreciates SARM's interest in the timing of our annual meeting. We hope the change of date from June to April 2010 will mean greater attendance from SARM's representatives.