Latest news with #cityfinances
CBC
22-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Metro Vancouver councillors call for better oversight after alleged misspending and fraud
A Surrey, B.C., councillor is calling for more oversight of city finances in light of allegations that a finance clerk defrauded the city of more than $2.5 million. Coun. Linda Annis said she wants the city to hire an independent auditor general. "It's very critical," Annis said. "The expertise that comes with an auditor general will go a long way to ensuring our taxpayers can have confidence in how city hall is managing and protecting their tax dollars." Annis first put forward the idea of an auditor general in 2021 and is revisiting it in light of a police investigation into allegations that a former City of Surrey finance clerk defrauded the city of more than $2.5 million by cutting hundreds of cheques to accounts associated with herself and her boutique cake baking business. According to a search warrant obtained by CBC News, the woman — who the CBC is not naming as she has not been charged — quit her job in the finance department in January 2024 after she was questioned about what appeared to be a forged signature on some paperwork. That irregularity allegedly led to the discovery of 183 fraudulent cheques written out to the woman's former legal name, her mother and her side business — drawing on funds kept in accounts that had been dormant for years. A warrant issued in March to search the woman's work computer claims Kam Grewal, the City of Surrey's chief financial officer, told police the woman "had been committing fraud since 2017, by exploiting her position and had defrauded the city of more than $2 million." Annis said cities that have an auditor general, like Vancouver and Toronto, "generally do find significant savings and waste through the processes." "I want to make sure we have the best policies and procedures in place now and going forward," Annis said. Coun. Pardeep Kooner, who chairs the audit committee, dismissed Annis's call for an independent auditor general, saying Surrey already has its finances scrutinized by an internal audit and compliance manager. "I'm not sure why we would spend close to $300,000 when we have two positions — one filled, one open — for internal audit," Kooner said. Metro Vancouver area councillors call for more provincial oversight Other city councillors in the Metro Vancouver area say they want the province to boost oversight of municipal spending following revelations of a police investigation into alleged misuse of a city hall gift card program in Richmond, B.C. Richmond's Kash Heed, New Westminster's Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas, and Burnaby's Richard Lee co-signed an open letter to Premier David Eby urging the province to either reinstate an office to oversee municipal spending or expand the mandate of B.C.'s auditor general to include municipal and regional government expenditures. B.C.'s Office of the Auditor General for Local Government stopped operations in 2021. Municipal Affairs Minister Ravi Kahlon said the province has no plans to revive the office. "At this point we're not bringing in additional measures," he said. Kahlon said that in the cases of Surrey and Richmond "the system is what caught the issue and brought it to light." Heed disputes that, saying Richmond's gift card controversy only came to light after reporting by Global News. "The minister might want to check his facts," Heed said. The City of Richmond said it purchased approximately $446,000 worth of gift cards from 2022 to 2024 as part of an employee recognition program, but found in a recent review that around $295,000 of them were unaccounted for. Richmond RCMP's serious crimes section is investigating. "We would be investing multimillion dollars to set up a system — that would cost a lot of money to the province — in the case of Richmond, to identify where $300,000 went," Kahlon said. Heed says it's much larger than $300,000, pointing to cost overruns at the Metro Vancouver waste water treatment plant, with a price tag that has ballooned to $4 billion. "This is the taxpayers' money," Heed said. "They want some confidence it's being handled with some accountability." Kahlon said "we know there's oversight needed," which is why the province requires local governments to make public their audited financials every year. Michael Favere-Marchesi, an associate professor of accounting and auditing at Simon Fraser University's Beedie School of Business, said a provincial auditor general for local governments must be notified of any financial irregularities, which is why a robust internal audit system is preferable. "My preference is always to have a city auditor because they get very familiar with all of the operations of the city," he said. Favere-Marchesi said a provincial auditor, by contrast, is brought in on a case-by-case basis and lacks the expertise about each municipality.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mayor Schember: A record of financial stability, safety, growth and renewal
It has been my honor to serve you as mayor for the last seven-plus years. When I first ran in 2017, I said it was going to take three terms to accomplish everything my team and I wanted to do. I am proud to report that under my stewardship, city finances are stable, jobs are up, crime is down and neighborhoods are being revitalized. In 2018, we did a five-year budget and discovered that we had inherited projected shortfalls of $11 million, $17 million, and $23 million. Many people thought we were headed for Act 47, but I was determined not to let that happen. With our creativity and sound financial practices, we turned it around. There are 11 criteria that must be met for the commonwealth to take a city into Act 47, and the city does not meet even one. Rather than pass these deficits on to taxpayers in the form of tax increases, we developed a five-year financial management plan and set a multi-faceted strategy into motion. Thanks to cost-cutting measures and new revenue, in 2023, we turned a projected $17 million deficit into a $243,000 surplus. And in 2024, the projected $23 million deficit into a $2 million surplus. And we did it without raising taxes the last six years or using funding from the prepayment of the water lease the last two years. In fact, we still have $6.5 million of that funding left. We: Established LERTA, resulting in $379 million being invested in homes and businesses; Paid down half the city's debt, saving taxpayers $86.3 million; Earned additional investment income; Provided $15 million for housing, $14 million for public safety, $12 million for infrastructure, $8 million for parks and trails, and $2.9 million for permanent supportive housing; Secured $120 million in grants from Harrisburg and Washington, D.C. for equipment, technology, projects, and salaries; Provided loans and direct support to 500-plus businesses from small start-ups to larger companies; Started Flagship Fund that awarded grants to 159 small businesses and Invested tens of millions of dollars to grow Erie businesses and expand our economy. As a result, the city of Erie sits in its strongest financial position in decades, and residents have not seen a city property tax increase for six years or an income tax increase for seven years. Since 2021, we helped to add 2,000 more employees and 400 more employers paying earned-income tax and local services tax. This equates to an additional $2.5 million in annual revenue with a record low jobless rate of 3% to 4% in 2024. Working closely with the Erie Police Department, we have: Decreased homicides by 57% and shootings by 67%; Solved 100% of homicides in the last 3 years; Reinstated the Crisis, Juvenile, and K-9 Units; Deployed body-worn cameras, ShotSpotter, a real-time crime center, and license plate readers on all 38 frontline vehicles and Expanded the Police Athletic League (PAL) and Community Outreach Program (COP) from 35 students in one school with six officers to more than 1,700 students in 29 locations with 120 officers. We've partnered with our fire chiefs to: Renovate our six fire houses with improvements totaling nearly $1 million and Acquire and put into service four new fire trucks totaling over $3.7 million, with a fifth on order at a cost of $1.8 million. We support our youth by funding free after-school and summer youth programs at all the community centers and through the city's free summer rec program offering golf, tennis, swimming, youth theater, dance, basketball and more. In terms of revitalizing neighborhoods, our Love Your Block Team, Public Works, and Code Enforcement: Removed 180,000 pounds of trash and debris; Completed 184 projects and 288 repairs; Installed 389 new features and 66 landscaping projects; Saved residents more than $183,000 in labor costs; Addressed 68 code violations; Installed 45 new hand railings, 29 new mailboxes, and 24 house numbers and Completed 67 community cleanups and eight beautification projects. And in collaboration with the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Erie and the Land Bank: Demolished 200 blighted properties; Repaired/rehabilitated 184 properties and Acquired 88 properties. Through Cultures, Arts, Festivals, and Events of Erie (CAFE), our team has: Brought back Lights Over Lake Erie; Continued Sounds of Summer concerts at six senior centers; Created the 814 concert series, bringing music to six parks and Transformed CelebrateErie into a celebration of all things local. As you can see, we have implemented several new initiatives to achieve our vision of Erie as a community of choice where we celebrate our: Rich cultural diversity, Welcoming, vibrant neighborhoods, World-class downtown and bayfront, Excellent education for everyone and Abundance of family-sustaining jobs. My team and I are developing a parks and recreation plan, housing strategy, safe streets plan to reduce traffic fatalities, and a second five-year financial management plan, all of which would be implemented in my final term. We will build on our success by continuing to: Strengthen the city's finances; Reduce blight and crime; Increase grants and loans to businesses; Add more housing and jobs; Improve streets; Grow youth programs; Update firehouses, apparatus, and equipment; Transform the Miller Bros property into a public safety complex; Improve our parks, leveraging $4 million in ARP funding and Secure grant funding. I have an amazing team, and we are passionate about completing our 12-year strategy to leave a legacy for the future. I believe the city's best days lie ahead and that we are on the right track to realizing our vision. With your help, I know we can succeed. I love this job because I love serving you. My commitment is stronger than ever. In fact, though City Council increased the mayor's salary from $95,000 to $120,000, I will not accept the increase and pledge to use that $25,000 per year to help our residents and business owners. Together, we can build opportunity. Restore hope. Transform Erie. I respectfully ask for your vote for mayor in the Democratic primary on May 20. Erie Mayor Joe Schember is seeking the Democratic nomination in the May 20th Erie mayoral primary. This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Schember touts record of stability, safety in reelection bid | Opinion
