They came, they saw and they took a name.
On June 18 the auditor general for Local Government (AGLG) held a "kick-off meeting" with City of Rossland chief administrative officer Cecile Arnott and members of city council.
This meeting was held to confirm the audit protocol, explain the audit process, answer any questions, share the initial lines of enquiry and confirm a key contact for the City of Rossland in order to complete the process.
The engagement protocol with local governments for performance audits requires that one key contact person is appointed from the city to liaise with the AGLG's contact person for the performance audit, senior audit manager, Glenn Lewis.
Council appointed Arnott as the key contact person to liaise with the auditor general as outlined in the engagement protocol under the Auditor General for Local Government Act.
Council will also have opportunities throughout the performance audit to provide feedback and input.
The AGLG is expected to produce a draft Proposed Final Performance Audit report for council's initial review and comments. This draft will include the AGLG's findings, conclusions and recommendations.
Any changes proposed by Rossland will need to be supported by appropriate evidence.
After considering comments from the Audit Council, the AGLG will finalize the Proposed Final Performance Audit Report. The Proposed Final Performance Audit Report may be provided to the local government in advance of publication by the AGLG.
The AGLG will provide the local government with the Final Performance Audit Report and then publish the report.
The audit comes after the City of Rossland's tendering, contracting and project reporting practices were brought to light earlier this year.
The AGLG will wade into the tangle created when the city's former building inspector Jason Ward's own company was able to bill the city $185,000 for arena renovations, unbeknownst to council.
In the coming audit the provincial office is expected to make recommendations to council on the best means to provide adequate oversight of contract services and project management and to reduce the possibility of fraud in the future. The province has contracted with KPMG and Grant Thornton to assist in the conduct of the performance audits.
By requesting the inquiry and sharing the results, council will be providing full disclosure to the citizens of Rossland and will be able adopt recommendations and best practices to improve governance in the future, said the AGLG's office in a letter to council.
Individual audit reports for the City of Rossland can now be found on the city's website at http://www.rossland.ca/auditor-general-local-governments-aglg-audit-information.
editor@rosslandnews.com