NEWS
PERMIT DUES INCREASES BEGIN JULY 1 APEGA has traditionally used a one-size-fits-all dues schedule for Permit Holders. That changes this summer with the launch of the first phase of a new permit dues schedule — one that better reflects the distribution of APEGA's costs. Under the new schedule, Permit Holder dues increase with the size of the company, as measured by the number of APEGA Members employed as per APEGA's permit file. Two launch dates are set for the new schedule. Effective July 1, 2017, Permit Holders employing six or more Members will pay dues using the new schedule. For those employing five or fewer Members, the effective date is a year later, July 1, 2018. This staggered approach is designed to give smaller companies more time to prepare. The new rate structure is a more equitable reflec- tion of the costs required to regulate Permit Holders. Member dues are still APEGA's main source of revenue. The Permit Holder dues formula is $500 times the square root of the number of registered APEGA Mem- bers employed. Types of Members used in the calcula- tion are Professional Members, Licensees, Professional Licensees, restricted practitioners, Provisional Licens- ees, Members-in-Training, and exam candidates. Under the formula, a Permit Holder with 15 Member employees would pay $1,936.49 plus GST. A Permit Holder with 200 Member employees would pay $7,071.07 plus GST. Previously, each Permit Holder paid $500 plus GST in annual dues — regardless of the Member employee count. A dues estimator appears in the upgraded Company Self-Service Centre of the APEGA website. To keep dues increases as low as possible, APEGA has restructured operations, frozen staff salaries for the second consecutive year, and has put in place cost- cutting measures that include the elimination of the print version of The PEG magazine.
BYLAW CHANGES APPROVED BY MEMBERS AT AGM Changes in validation requirements for mail and electronic bylaw voting earned the approval of Members attending the APEGA Annual General Meeting on April 28 in Calgary. The successful amendment of Bylaw 37(3) means that voting by 400 eligible Professional Members now makes the results of a mail or electronic vote valid. Before, the requirement was 10 per cent of eligible Professional Members. The amendment allows voting from a broad cross- section of eligible Professional Members and timely decisions on proposed bylaw changes. Until now, the usual mechanism for passing bylaw changes has been a legally constituted AGM. An AGM quorum is 60 eligible Professional Members, and bylaws typically passed or failed on a total vote count of 100 to 150. A simple majority in favour continues to be the threshold for a bylaw change to pass, whether the vote is conducted by mail, electronically, or at an AGM or special meeting. At this year's AGM, 137 eligible Professional Members voted in favour of the changes to Bylaw 37(3) and 15 voted against. That's a passing vote of 90 per cent. The amendment does not apply to the APEGA Election, which is covered elsewhere in the bylaws. Members at the AGM also approved bylaw changes that add new eligibility requirements for nomination to Council and give clear guidance on removing someone from Council. The changes were brought forward after Council discovered gaps in a review of its governance manual. The criteria belong in the bylaws rather than policy, Council decided, so Members can easily know and find the rules. The nomination eligibility amendment passed by a 75 per cent majority, a vote of 117 to 39. The vote on criteria for removal from Council was 100 to 49 in favour, or 67 per cent. MORE INFO Report to Members — Mail and Electronic Voting Requirements Report to Members — Criteria for Eligibility for Nomination to Council, and Criteria for Removal of an Elected Member of Council
MORE INFO Member & Permit Holder Dues Increase Web Page
46 | PEG SUMMER 2017
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