Lac La Biche County councillors finally have an impartial, third party answer to the question of whether or not their finances are in order, following a presentation by accounting firm KPMG’s John Stelter, who told council that while there were issues in the way the information was presented, they had no concerns about he county’s books. Everything seemed to be proper and legitimate, with no signs of wrongdoing.
Council has spent the last few months trying to get a handle on the county’s finances, with administration providing reports that were either too complicated for council to work with, or that contained errors.
“The information is consistent with the underlying records,” said Stelter.
That came as welcome news to Coun. Gail Broadbent, who has been at the front of a charge to resolve the financial reporting issues facing council. While she never had suspicions of wrongdoing by county staff, she was concerned at the inconsistencies in the financial reports, and the way in which the information was presented.
Hearing KPMG’s presentation, and the confirmation that the accounting methods used were sound, has “absolutely” given her some piece of mind.
“I feel more confident that we’re resolving the issue,” she said, adding that before the presentation, the financial reports kept coming back to council with inconsistencies and were difficult to decipher.
The KPMG audit of December’s financials wasn’t something the accounting firm is normally asked to do, said Stelter, adding they normally do annual audits, but this clarification of December’s books will allow council to move forward, and will help administration develop clear and understandable monthly reports for council in the future.
To help with that, council decided to form a committee at last weeks council meeting with a goal of creating clear and understandable guidelines for what is to be included in the monthly reports.
There is still work to be done, said Broadbent, adding the committee, which includes herself, Coun. MJ Siebold and Coun. Tim Thompson, will work with administration to determine how future monthly financial reports will be presented.
The KPMG analysis of December’s financials determined the county has $22 million in surplus funds, and while some of that is held in reserve accounts for future projects, there is also an actual surplus. The year-end audit that KPMG will be doing will break down those numbers, said Broadbent, adding council will likely have “very good numbers” by the end of February, just in time to begin pre-budget meetings before going into budget talks.
The budget meetings are planned for March 16-19, with a 2011 budget expected soon after.
The annual municipal budget is usually ready before that time, but the fall election caused budget talks to be pushed back. Council approved an interim budget in late December based on last year’s budget that is being used until the new budget is approved.
