Town Councils Financial (Amendment) Rules 2007

No. S 637

Town Councils Act

(Chapter 329A)

Town Councils Financial (Amendment) Rules 2007

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 43 of the Town Councils Act, the Minister for National Development hereby makes the following Rules:

Citation and commencement

1. These Rules may be cited as the Town Councils Financial (Amendment) Rules 2007 and shall come into operation on 1st December 2007.

Amendment of rule 2

2. Rule 2 of the Town Councils Financial Rules (R 1) (referred to in these Rules as the principal Rules) is amended by deleting the words “section 37 (1)” in the definition of “auditor” and substituting the words “section 38 (1)”.

Amendment of rule 12

3. Rule 12 (5) of the principal Rules is amended —

(a)

by deleting the word “and” at the end of sub-paragraph (d); and

(b)

by deleting the full-stop at the end of sub-paragraph (e) and substituting a semi-colon, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following sub-paragraphs:

“(f)	credit card facility;
(g)	cash card; and
(h)	internet banking.”.

Amendment of rule 15

4. Rule 15 of the principal Rules is amended —

(a)

by deleting paragraph (1) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(1) Payments received by hand or through the post —

(a)	shall be promptly registered in the proper remittance register; and
(b)	shall reach the cashier within the operating hours of the payment counter and promptly receipted.”; and

(b)

by deleting paragraphs (3) and (4) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(3) Where cash payments or postal remittances are received by a Town Council after the closing of the payment counter, such payments shall be sent to the cashier before the end of the same working day whenever possible, and in any case not later than the morning of the next working day.”.

Amendment of rule 21

5. Rule 21 of the principal Rules is amended by deleting paragraphs (2) and (3) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(2) Whenever any cash collection exceeding $5,000 is physically conveyed by a cashier of a Town Council, there shall be an armed escort or a second officer accompanying the cashier.”.

Amendment of rule 25

6. Rule 25 (1) of the principal Rules is amended by inserting, immediately after the words “the Town Council”, the words “or any bank, security company or finance company providing safe deposit services”.

Amendment of rule 73

7. Rule 73 of the principal Rules is amended —

(a)

by deleting “$30,000” in paragraph (1) and substituting “$70,000”;

(b)

by deleting paragraph (1A) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(1A) A tender need not be invited if quotations are invited for any single item of stores, services or works estimated to cost not more than $70,000, and the quotations obtained exceed $70,000 but do not exceed $80,000.”;

(c)

by deleting “$1,000” in paragraph (2)(a) and substituting “$3,000”;

(d)

by deleting “$1,000” in paragraph (11) and substituting “$3,000”; and

(e)

by deleting paragraph (14) and substituting the following paragraphs:

“(14) The submission to the chairman for waiver under paragraph (12), and the circumstances and justification for granting any such waiver, shall be recorded and made available to the auditor for inspection and audit.

(15) No person making any submission to the chairman for waiver under paragraph (12) shall have any interest in the supplier of the stores, services or works in respect of which the waiver is sought.”.

Amendment of rule 74

8. Rule 74 of the principal Rules is amended —

(a)

by deleting “$30,000” in paragraph (1) and substituting “$70,000”;

(b)

by inserting, immediately after the words “international trade press” in paragraph (3), the words “, or by electronic means”;

(c)

by deleting “$30,000” in paragraph (4) and substituting “$70,000”;

(d)

by deleting the words “Construction Industry Development Board” in paragraph (5) and substituting the words “Building and Construction Authority or the Expenditure and Procurement Policies Unit of the Ministry of Finance”;

(e)

by inserting, immediately after the word “chairman” in paragraphs (7) and (8), the words “or his authorised officer”;

(f)

by deleting paragraph (19) and substituting the following paragraphs:

“(19) The submission to the Town Council or the chairman for accepting a tender which is not the lowest tender under paragraph (15) or for waiver under paragraph (17), and the circumstances and justification for accepting any such tender or granting any such waiver, shall be recorded and made available to the auditor for inspection and audit.

(19A) No person making any submission for accepting a tender which is not the lowest tender under paragraph (15) or for waiver under paragraph (17) shall have any interest in the supplier of the stores, services or works in respect of which the acceptance of such tender or the waiver is sought.”; and

(g)

by inserting, immediately after paragraph (20), the following paragraph:

“(21) The amount of any security deposit or banker’s guarantee which the approving authority may require under paragraph (20) shall not exceed 10% of the total estimated cost of the works, goods or services sought to be procured under the tender.”.

Amendment of rule 75

9. Rule 75 (1) of the principal Rules is amended —

(a)

by deleting sub-paragraph (b) and substituting the following sub-paragraphs:

“(b)	supply of utility services by the Public Utilities Board or any other utility service provider licensed or otherwise regulated by the Public Utilities Board or the Energy Market Authority of Singapore;
(ba)	supply of telecommunications services by any telecommunication service provider licensed by the Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore; and”; and

(b)

by deleting “10%” in sub-paragraph (c) and substituting “30%”.

Amendment of rule 76

10. Rule 76 (3) of the principal Rules is amended by deleting the words “period of tender notice” in sub-paragraph (a) and substituting the word “tender”.

Amendment of rule 78

11. Rule 78 of the principal Rules is amended by deleting paragraph (11).

Amendment of rule 81

12. Rule 81 of the principal Rules is amended by inserting, immediately after paragraph (5), the following paragraph:

“(5A) For the purposes of paragraph (5)(a) —

(a)	financial terms refer to such terms as payment arrangements and the amount of security deposit, but does not include the tender price; and
(b)	special contract conditions refer to requirements governing delivery, installation, maintenance, warranties and other related matters.”.

Amendment of rule 86A

13. Rule 86A (3) of the principal Rules is amended by inserting, immediately after the word “directors”, the words “or employees”.

Amendment of rule 87

14. Rule 87 of the principal Rules is amended by deleting paragraph (4) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(4) The authority to approve each request for variation works shall be the same as the authority to incur expenditure under rule 34 (1) read with rule 34 (2).”.

Amendment of rule 89

15. Rule 89 (1) of the principal Rules is amended —

(a)	by inserting, immediately after the words “fixed deposits” in sub-paragraph (a), the words “in Singapore currency”; and
(b)	by deleting the words “which trustees are authorised to invest by any written law” in sub-paragraph (b) and substituting the words “as specified in the First Schedule”.

Amendment of rule 96

16. Rule 96 (1) of the principal Rules is amended by deleting the words “the Schedule” and substituting the words “the Second Schedule”.

Amendment of rule 106A

17. Rule 106A (1) of the principal Rules is amended —

(a)	by deleting the words “section 35” and substituting the words “section 36”; and
(b)	by inserting, immediately after the words “the Minister”, the words “together with details of its investments as specified in rule 89”.

New First Schedule

18. The principal Rules are amended by inserting, immediately after rule 115, the following Schedule:

“FIRST SCHEDULE

Rule 89(1)(b)

Investments by Town Councils

Investments in foreign currencies, for hedging purposes only.

Investments denominated in Singapore dollar in stocks, funds or securities on the advice of a qualified person (for example, an investment adviser holding a licence under the Securities and Futures Act (Cap. 289), an approved bank or a merchant bank approved as a financial institution under the Monetary Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 186)), subject to the following limits:

(a)	in the case of securities issued by the Singapore Government or any statutory body or securities guaranteed by the Singapore Government — unlimited; or
(b)	in the case of any other type of securities, stocks or funds (including structured deposits) — the aggregate thereof shall not exceed 35% of the funds available for investment (comprising accumulated surpluses and the sinking fund, based on the latest audited accounts).

Any form of investment, other than an investment specified in rule 89 (1)(a) and paragraphs 1 and 2, subject to the prior written approval of the Minister.”.

Renaming of Schedule

19. The Schedule to the principal Rules is amended by deleting the words “THE SCHEDULE” in the heading and substituting the words “SECOND SCHEDULE”.

Miscellaneous amendments

20. The principal Rules are amended —

(a)	by deleting the words “sections 38 and 41” in rule 4(2) and substituting the words “sections 39 and 42”;
(b)	by deleting the words “section 41” in rule 4(3) and substituting the words “section 42”; and
(c)	by deleting the words “section 33A (1)” in rule 4A(1) and substituting the words “section 34 (1)”. [G.N. Nos. S 179/99; S 31/2001; S 21/2002]

Made this 23rd day of November 2007.

TAN TEE HOW

Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of National Development,
Singapore.

[ND311/4-146 Pt. 52 Vol. 10; AG/LEG/SL/329A/2006/1 Vol. 1]

Search within Legislation