Cities want auditor gone

by The Canadian Press CASTANET - Sep 24, 2015 / 12:12 pm
Municipal leaders in British Columbia have voted to call on the province to scrap a controversial office that audits local governments. A resolution to ask B.C. to eliminate the auditor general for local government was passed with 54.5 per cent support at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention on Thursday. North Saanich council had put forward the resolution, saying the office has cost taxpayers $5.2 million and was unnecessary because cities were already legally required to balance their books. Mayor Alice Finall told local politicians gathered at the conference that the province brought in the position in 2012 without consulting with cities and it hasn't shown any obvious value. But some communities that have been audited spoke in favour of keeping the office, with Sechelt mayor Bruce Milne saying his city benefited tremendously from the process. The province fired its first auditor, Basia Ruta, in March amid complaints of inefficiency and wasted money and announced Wednesday that accountant Gordon Ruth would take on the role.

Audit takes a look at City of Vernon's purchasing activities

by Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star posted Aug 31, 2015 at 11:00 AM
B.C.’s auditor general for local government has released an audit on the City of Vernon’s purchase of goods and services from 2010 to 2012. The audit states that while the city has worked to improve the procurement process, eight of 25 transactions tested showed non-compliance with city policies. Among them were inappropriate expense approvals. Mayor Akbal Mund says the audit covers previous administrations and the city has taken action to improve its procurement procedures. However, while he is pleased with how purchases are handled, Mund says recommendations in the AGLG audit will be considered. "We will look at it and there's always room for improvement. There's nothing wrong with an outside auditor taking a look at what you do," he said.
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City bending rules : Audit
by Jennifer Zielinski |CASTANET - Aug 31, 2015 / 1:29 pm
A performance audit report on the City of Vernon has been completed by B.C.'s auditor general for local government. In summary, it appears that in 2011 a city department direct-awarded a $35,000 purchase order to a vendor to provide services without involving the purchasing services department in the transaction, contrary to the city’s purchasing policy. The report states the city’s files contained no written contract, but only a purchase order, which also contradicts city policy. There was also a lack of compliance in the procurement of legal services, according to the report. The city procured legal services contrary to the requirements of both its legal services policy and its professional services policy. Acting Auditor General for Local Government Arn van Iersel, who lead the report, indicated the city breached its purchasing-card policy limit on the size of individual transactions. The report's executive summary says van Iersel believes there is a need to strengthen procurement policies and improve compliance in order to minimize risk to the organization. The city needs to strengthen its gathering of information on operational procurement, monitoring and reporting of meaningful results to senior management, van Iersel said. "In our view, if the City of Vernon adopts the recommendations in this report and continues to look for ways to increase value for money, it will generate lasting benefits for taxpayers." The City of Vernon is one of six local governments the province set out to audit on the topic "Achieving Value for Money in Operational Procurement" during 2013-14.
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Don Quixote Note. This audit is for the period 2010 to 2012. The City's reaction to the recommendations in the audit are at the end of the report.

The audit can be found here:  http://www.aglg.ca/includes/docs/Audit_Topic_1_Report_2_City_of_Vernon.pdf
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City of Vernon receives AGLG Performance Audit Posted August 31, 2015
The City of Vernon was pleased to receive the Auditor General for Local Government’s (AGLG) Performance Audit Report that noted the City’s commitment to managing procurement transactions, related risks and obtaining value for Vernon residents and taxpayers. The audit found that the City was committed to managing procurement transactions and related risks and obtaining value for taxpayers. Further, the report noted that the City worked to achieve continuous improvement in its procurement, seeking to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of this function.

Mayor Akbal Mund has committed to addressing the recommendations contained with the audit, noting that many of the recommendations have already been implemented by the City since the audit period was concluded in 2012.

“The City of Vernon has pursued continual improvement of our purchasing environment,” said Mayor Mund. “The City has moved to a centralized purchasing environment, and implemented electronic purchase orders and document scanning of paid invoices—all in a move toward improving efficiency. Further, our Council has full stewardship of the budget and consistently monitors results of the Corporation of the City of Vernon. We are committed to financial and operational best practices so that we can continue to provide value to our residents and business owners in Vernon.”

Following Premier Christy Clark’s announcement to form the office of the AGLG at the 2012 UBCM convention, then-Mayor Rob Sawatzky stepped forward to volunteer the City of Vernon as one of the first B.C. municipalities to receive the performance audit. At that convention, Premier Clark announced the purpose of the AGLG was to find and share best practices among B.C. municipalities. Mayor Sawatzky was confident that constructive recommendations from the AGLG report combined with recommendations from the Core Service Review completed by KPMG in 2013 would allow the City to deliver improved value-for-money services to Vernon’s taxpayers as well as provide best practices that would benefit other B.C. municipalities.

“The City looks forward to reviewing AGLG-recommended best practices for local governments in B.C. to consider,” said Mayor Mund.

Municipal auditor fired with no severance

by Tom Fletcher - BC Local News posted Mar 23, 2015 at 11:00 AM
The B.C. government has fired its Auditor General for Local Government, after accountant Basia Ruta "lost all confidence" of her supervisors to complete audits that compare local government spending practices. "The auditor general for local government's obstruction of an intended review of her office has created an intolerable situation that compounds the unstable work environment and lack of performance from that office," said Community Minister Coralee Oakes, who took the action on the recommendation of the government-appointed audit council. Former deputy minister Chris Trumpy was due to start his own review of the new office Monday. It is the first attempt in Canada to do "performance audits" by comparing groups of municipalities, but the performance of Ruta's office has become the pressing issue. Oakes said Ruta will not be offered severance pay, because the government has determined she has been fired for cause. The work environment in the Surrey office of the AGLG had deteriorated, and Ruta's decision to refuse Trumpy's involvement led to the decision, she said. Hired to execute an idea proposed by Premier Christy Clark in her 2012 bid for the B.C. Liberal Party leadership, Ruta set herself a target of 18 audits in the first year. Clashes with the staff at her Surrey office and the audit council began to emerge last year. NDP local government critic Selina Robinson said the two-year-old office has lost credibility over spending $5.2 million over two years to produce only one audit. Two more reports were issued last week. The function should be included in the existing B.C. Auditor General office, which is an independent office of the legislature, Robinson said. Oakes said she remains committed to the current structure, which had envisioned three audits in the first year and five in the second. It was Ruta who raised expectations far beyond that and then didn't deliver, she said.

Auditor General for Local Government release first Audit Report

http://www.aglg.ca/news-and-publications/audits/audit-topic-3/index.html#a3-R1
Individual Local Government Audit Reports
Audit Topic 3 - Report 1: City of Rossland (Part 1 of 2)

Published April 2014
This report outlines part one of our findings in exploring the topic Learnings from Local Government Capital Procurement Projects and Asset Management Programs with a focus on the City of Rossland, one of six local governments we set out to audit on this topic during 2013/14. See News Release. See Backgrounder

Mayors strong, united, share one voice

by Deborah Pfeiffer - Castanet May 19, 2012 / 5:00 am
BC mayors who attended a big meeting in Penticton this week described themselves as united, strong and ready to seek a new partnership with the provincial and federal governments at its conclusion on Friday.  More than 80 mayors from across the province attended the inaugural BC Mayors’ Caucus held at the Penticton Lakeside Resort, which included looking at a new deal to fund municipalities, building the BC economy from the ground up and a plan for moving forward. “This was an incredibly beneficial meeting where it became evident that BC mayors have for the first time come together as peers with a single voice,” said steering committee member Mayor Shari Green of Prince George. “This is a new day in the way we as mayors will move forward for the benefit of all of our residents.” The mayors came up with 11 primary areas that need to be addressed, including creating a Premier’s Round Table with the BC Mayors’ Caucus to discuss public policy changes that affect local government budgets, eliminating the ad hoc granting process in favour of one that is sustainable and expanding the mandate of the Municipal Auditor General to include an examination of the financial impacts of downloading on local governments. A roundtable on aging infrastructure, affirming core service delivery of each order of government, redesigning cost sharing for significant infrastructure projects, identifying a sustainable revenue source for services downloaded to local governments, a better approach to how social services are delivered into a community and a call for a review of ambulance service delivery were also deemed important. Lastly, flexibility around the federal gas tax needs to be established and an expansion of the application of the fair share principles province-wide and to include other industry sectors needs to be looked at. “This is really across the board, whether it is Smithers or Prince Rupert , and doing what we can for our residents,” said Prince Rupert Mayor Jack Mussallem. The caucus, which began Wednesday evening, is likely to become an annual event to maintain the momentum. “It was phenomenal to have 86 mayors that agreed we have to do things differently,” said Penticton Mayor Dan Ashton. “It was very productive and we would do it again.”

Province supports local governments

VICTORIA – British Columbia mayors have indicated that they will discuss the possibility of negotiating a potential “new deal” with the Province and the federal government when they meet in Penticton this week. However, simply giving local governments a bigger piece of the “tax pie” will not change the fact that there is only one taxpayer. Reallocating current tax revenues could put in jeopardy the crucial services delivered by senior levels of government. We understand how challenging it can be, especially in these economic times, to stretch taxpayer dollars and meet ongoing budgetary demands. That’s why the Province has supported the work local governments do with $3 billion in additional funding since 2001, above and beyond previously existing funding streams.In addition to this provincial investment, we have secured more than $1.5 billion in federal funds for local governments to enhance community infrastructure. For the first time beginning in 2004, our government began returning 100 per cent of net traffic fine revenues to local governments. We also doubled the existing unconditional grants program – funds that local governments can use as they see fit.Grant programs are another important part of the way the Province supports local governments and the reporting requirements associated with these programs help ensure that taxpayer dollars are being used in the most effective and efficient way possible. It’s about being accountable to British Columbians.

Local governments should also turn their minds toward cutting costs. B.C. has held its public service employees to zero wage increases over the past two years. The federal government is also reducing its civil service by 19,000 positions. Meanwhile, local governments have increased compensation to their employees every year – despite the recent global economic downturn.

 

Rather than just fight for a bigger piece of the pie, governments need to work together to lift the burden on our taxpayers by re-evaluating the potential for shared services and identifying best practices so we can build infrastructure, maintain stability and keep British Columbians working.

The Province’s new office of the Auditor General for Local Government, which will begin operations this year, is one way we are working towards accomplishing these goals.

By Ida Chong, FCGA Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development May 17, 2012

Search begins for Audit Council members

VICTORIA– The search is on for Audit Council members, bringing the Province one step closer to fulfilling Premier Christy Clark’s commitment to establish an Office of the Auditor General for Local Government.  The Board Resourcing and Development Office (BRDO) is posting the position on its website today, in anticipation of the passage of Bill 20 (Auditor General for Local Government Act) this spring. Consultations are also underway between the Province, the Union of British Columbia Municipalities and other organizations regarding potential candidates, announced Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development Ida Chong. The Province introduced Bill 20 in November 2011. Under the proposed legislation, the primary purpose of the AGLG would be to help local governments find efficiencies in spending and improve program effectiveness by providing neutral, non-binding advice. The AGLG's role has been designed to maximize value for money by enabling the AGLG to undertake performance audits and provide information to assist local governments in choosing how best to respond to their communities' priorities. Like all auditors general, the AGLG would make recommendations for improvements, not impose solutions.

 The AGLG would report through the Audit Council, comprised of at least five individuals with relevant professional expertise in accounting, auditing, local and regional governance, or provincial governance. Audit Council members would be appointed by the Province for terms of up to three years. Once interviews for Audit Council positions and due diligence are complete, the BRDO will present a final list of potential candidates to the minister for consideration. Audit Council members would be appointed after the legislation is in force.