Council grumbles about late audited statements

Some members of Iqaluit city council say they’re fed up with long delays in receiving audited financial statements for 2005.

Rob Elliott, their temporary director of finance, reported to council last week that the department is currently working on a third draft of the statements and is in the process of negotiating the language of the document with the auditor.

He said the audit will be completed and ready to present to council at the end of September.

Elliott was hired on contract as the temporary director of finance, from June 1 to August 31, while the permanent finance director, John Hussey, serves as the acting CAO. The city’s newly-hired CAO, Clinton Mauthe, will arrive sometime between now and October.

“It is eight months into the year and we don’t have audited financial statements,” said Coun. Nancy Gillis. “It’s unacceptable.”

She said setting a deadline for MacKay and Landau, the chartered accountants responsible for auditing the city’s financial statements, could speed up the process in the future and suggested a deadline of three months.

“With or without timelines it would take a miracle for MacKay Landau to keep them,” said Coun. Theresa Rodrigue. “I’ve worked with them for 15 years.”

Elliott did provide council with a revenue and expense summary sheet of the city’s budget and spending for 2006. The document included concrete numbers up to June 30 and projections for the remainder of the year.

As councillors examined the document they began to point out errors and inconsistencies in the presentation of some of the numbers. Elliott agreed that the document contained errors and said that he would have to revise the document for accuracy.