Municipal watchdog welcomed

  Saturday, 26 November 2011 02:00 Don Plant The Daily Courier:

Having an auditor general for municipal governments is useful, despite concerns the watchdog might intrude on local affairs, says Robert Hobson.  As past president of the Union of B.C. Municipalities, the Kelowna city councillor has heard grumblings from municipal leaders about the provincial government creating the position. Business-lobby groups were calling for it, but not local governments, Hobson said.  "They had a feeling they were going to lose their independence in the key decisions around taxation and service delivery. . . . But the way it's been put in place, I see it as . . . providing information, and information can lead to political pressure." The new auditor general will conduct performance audits and make recommendations, similar to what auditors general do provincially and federally. Premier Christy Clark said the office will open in Surrey this spring.  It's unclear whether local governments will ask the auditor general to audit their services at random or the AG will investigate when citizens submit complaints about their municipalities. The UBCM was concerned lobby groups such as the Federation of Small Business would use the office to push local governments to reduce commercial-industrial taxation, encourage more contracting out or influence policies under the purview of municipal councils, Hobson said.  "There's going to be some angst about that from local governments. They feel there is intrusion. But my view is that value-for-money audits are a useful thing, and being able to compare ourselves in an honest way to how others perform is useful in the way we deliver our services." The watchdog may point out wasteful spending on a particular service. However, if the service itself is wrong, that's the fault of the elected council and not something an external body can police, Hobson said.  "I don't think the auditor general is going to come in and say 'you shouldn't be doing such and such.' They would be saying 'given that you are doing such and such, maybe there are more effective ways of doing it.'"  For example, Kelowna contracts out garbage pickup while other municipalities provide the service internally. Regional districts often run a universal service on waste management, recycling and education from a central office.  "If that were done by each individual municipality, it might be more expensive. I can see the auditor general suggesting co-operation on things like that," Hobson said. "We now do some group buying with the city and school district and others. More of that kind of thing might lead to efficiencies." Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan has said the new office is a waste of money, and a ploy to divert attention from the Liberal government and to blame someone else. Hobson disagrees.  "We didn't call for it, but on the other hand we shouldn't ignore it. Now that the government is putting it in place, it costs money and provides service, and I think we should take advantage of it."