60 / 144
50
For the year ended December 31, 2016
[tabular amounts in thousands of dollars]
NOTESTOTHE CONSOLIDATED
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
CITY OF SURREY
1.
SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)
l) Segment disclosure
A segment is defined as a distinguishable activity or group of activities of a government for which it is appropriate to separately
report financial information to achieve the objectives of the standard. The City of Surrey has provided definitions of segments used
by the City (note 1(a)) as well as presented financial information in segmented format (note 22).
m) Liabilities for contaminated sites
Contaminated sites are a result of contamination being introduced into air, soil, water or sediment of a chemical, organic or
radioactive material or live organism that exceeds an environmental standard. A liability for remediation of contaminated sites is
recognized when a site is not in productive use and all of the following criteria are met:
• An environmental standard exists;
• Contamination exceeds an environmental standard;
• The City is directly responsible or accepts responsibility;
• The City expects that future economic benefits will be given up; and,
• A reasonable estimate of the amount can be made.
The liability is measured as management’s estimate of the cost of post remediation, including operations, maintenance and
monitoring, which are an integral part of the remediation strategy for a contaminated site. The liability is recorded net of any
expected recoveries.
2.
RECAST OF COMPARATIVE FIGURES
During the year, the City determined that certain parcels of land were inaccurately valued in the prior year’s asset registers. The prior
years’ comparative figures have been recast for these immaterial items.
The effects of the adjustments on the comparative are summarized below in thousands of dollars:
ACCUMULATED SURPLUS AT JANUARY 1:
2015
Opening accumulated surplus, as previously reported
$
7,985,458
Adjustment for land values
(7,291)
Opening accumulated surplus, as recast
$
7,978,167
TANGIBLE CAPITAL ASSETS AT DECEMBER 31:
2015
Tangible Capital Assets, as previously reported
$
8,130,440
Adjustment for land values
(7,291)
Tangible Capital Assets, as recast
$
8,123,149