An annual report from British ColumbiaB次元官网网址檚 auditor general says the province is owed millions by people who were ineligible for COVID-19 relief grants and that the government will spend billions on recent weather-related disasters.
Auditor general Michael Pickup says the report draws attention to the spending as significant, but it doesnB次元官网网址檛 identify problematic accounting in those areas.
The report says the $5-billion price tag for recovery and response efforts after destructive wildfires, landslides and flooding was higher than the costs of weather-related emergency management measures over the previous 19 years combined.
The audit released Tuesday also shows the province is trying to recover nearly $10.5 million from more than 10,000 people who werenB次元官网网址檛 eligible to receive $1,000 pandemic relief grants because they hadnB次元官网网址檛 filed a 2019 tax return in B.C.
It also highlights a long-standing difference of opinion between the auditor general and the province over how the Finance Ministry reports payments from other governments and non-governmental sources, saying B.C. counts $6.48 billion as deferred revenue when it should be counted as revenue.
READ ALSO:
PickupB次元官网网址檚 office had issued a qualified independent opinion highlighting that concern and two others in August, after the province released its financial statements.
He is the fourth consecutive auditor general to raise the concern that B.C. isnB次元官网网址檛 following generally accepted accounting standards in some areas of its financial reporting, Pickup told a news conference on Tuesday.
The report says funds coming from the federal government, for example, should be recorded as revenue rather than deferred revenue, an adjustment that would add nearly $6.5 billion to the provinceB次元官网网址檚 surplus for the 2021-22 fiscal year.
The Finance Ministry has defended its accounting, saying it records deferred revenues for grants that cover multiple years, so the reported revenue will more accurately reflect its allocation over time, rather than appear as a lump sum.
Changing that approach could mislead the public to believe thereB次元官网网址檚 more money in the provinceB次元官网网址檚 coffers than is immediately available, the ministry has said.
TuesdayB次元官网网址檚 report includes a response from the Office of the Comptroller General, which says the province maintains its policy of recognizing restricted funding in the same period that the programs and services the money supports are delivered.
It said it couldnB次元官网网址檛 agree with the auditor, because adopting the change would result in budget and actual results no longer being directly comparable.
Pickup says the province is B次元官网网址渙bscuring its financial position by applying an accounting policy designed to smooth earnings out over long periods of time.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淥ur concern is that this opens government accounting up to possible future financial statement manipulation. It also hinders financial statement users, such as MLAs, from engaging in healthy, informed debate about governmentB次元官网网址檚 finances.B次元官网网址�
The Canadian Press
Like us on and follow us on .
