When it comes to financial reporting, the City of Nanaimo is an award-winning organization.
The City of Nanaimo was awarded the Canadian Award for financial reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) for its annual financial report for the year ending December 31, 2020.
The Canadian award for financial reporting was created in order to encourage municipal governments nationwide to publish high-quality financial reports and to provide peer recognition and technical guidance for officials preparing these reports.
“Our city is very fortunate to have such dedicated and talented staff who do an excellent job preparing complex financial reports in a way that can be clearly understood,” said Mayor Leonard Krog in a press release.
The award comes a few years after the city was marred in controversy regarding financial reporting and inappropriate spending among its senior managers.
A KPMG audit report of the city’s financials in 2017 found that the municipality had “significant deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting.” It also found that the city’s top two senior managers reviewed and approved each other’s expenses, a process it described as providing an “opportunity of collusion.”
Credit card statements obtained by CHEK News through a Freedom of Information in 2018 request showed that the city’s chief financial officer at the time, Victor Mema, made 64 personal charges to his city credit card.
The City of Nanaimo later released financial records showing its chief administrative officer at the time, Tracy Samra, had made thousands of dollars in personal expenses using a city-issued credit card, including a $153 purchase at The Clinic for Cats.
RELATED: KPMG report highlights deficiencies at Nanaimo city hall
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