Scrutinizing the books at municipalities and regional districts is creating divisions. The provincial government has introduced legislation to create an office of the auditor general for local government. “By law, we must have a balanced budget,” said Mike Macnabb, a Regional District of North Okanagan director. “If they’re doing any auditing, it should be at the provincial level. It’s unnecessary oversight.” Macnabb suggests the recent elections demonstrate the accountability officials have to voters. “The taxpayer has clearly said things are not going in the right direction and they have elected other people,” he said. However, there is also support for a municipal auditor. “As audits are done, the full results will be released
to municipalities and they will indicate best practises,” said Bob
Spiers, a Vernon councillor, of expenditures and operations. “Municipalities will be able to make sure practises are kept in line.” Spiers doesn’t believe the process will be onerous. “Municipalities should find it comforting that someone
on the outside is looking at ways to make local government more
efficient,” he said. Victoria says the main purpose of the auditor general
is to help local governments find efficiencies in spending and improve
program effectiveness by providing neutral, non-binding advice. It also states the auditor general will not impose solutions. “It will be up to local governments to decide what
action to take on any recommendations provided by the AGLG. Local
governments’ ability to make policy decisions about taxation, land use
and other services would not be restricted,” states a provincial
government release.
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EDITORAL: Auditor general a good move Published: Nov 27, 2011 1:00 AM — Langley Times
Premier Christy Clark’s announcement that a municipal
auditor-general will be appointed is good news for taxpayers, and it
could be helpful to municipalities as well, should they choose to adopt a conciliatory approach. When Clark suggested this new office, many mayors and
councillors condemned it, stating that their expenditures were already
audited. This is disingenuous. A year-end audit by an accounting firm is far different
from specific performance audits of specific programs. Year-end audits
pronounce judgment on general financial management, and rarely single
out specific programs. On rare occasions, auditors will include a note
about a specific program that raises some questions, but it is not part
of their job to follow up. A municipal auditor-general should be able to follow up
on some of those types of “flagged” issues, as well as issues that are
raised by taxpayers. Some of these may revolve around specific programs,
particularly ones where accountability is less than transparent. Both provincial and federal auditors-general have
performed many such valuable services, and the small amount it costs to
run their offices has been more than justified by the savings they have
identified. It can be safely said that they are one of the very few
branches of government with a mandate to try and save money for
taxpayers. If municipalities accept the reports and advice from
the new auditor-general, it could go a long way towards improving their
financial management. It will also help them to be more accountable to
taxpayers.
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Don Quixote Note: Mandate of the Auditor General for Local Government
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