The City of Châteauguay, which has exceeded the legal deadline for filing its financial report for five consecutive years, justifies its delay by a host of reasons beyond its control, including a computer attack.
This city of 50,000 inhabitants is, by far, the most populous of all the municipalities found at fault for having repeatedly failed to send its financial report to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs within the time limits prescribed by law.
In an audit report released Wednesday by the Commission municipale du Québec (CMQ), we learned that more than one in three municipalities, on average, had failed in their legal obligation for five years.
On average, more than one out of three municipalities in Quebec has neglected to file its financial report within the time limits prescribed by law.www.journaldequebec.com
Of the 1,088 municipalities audited, 9% of them were even non-compliant for each of the last five fiscal years, which is the case for Châteauguay. Remember that the financial report – which contains the audited financial statements – must first be adopted in public session by each municipality, before being sent to the ministry. This accountability is “essential”, recalls the CMQ.
Too tight a schedule
For the financial reports for the years 2016 and 2017, the City says it filed the public meeting “a few days” only after the deadline, due to its annual calendar which provides for meetings to be held, generally, on the third Monday of the month. The deadline, for some years now, has been set for May 15.
For 2017, the City also explains its late filing by pointing the finger at an mandated body that took longer than expected to verify the content of the report. “This situation unfortunately repeated itself for the 2018 report with the same organization. »
IT, pandemic and lack of staff
For the 2019 report – due to be submitted the following year – the City of Châteauguay says it has taken corrective measures, but a computer attack led to the loss of the audit file.
“We had to start the exercise from scratch, which caused delays. The pandemic also hit from March 2020, ”recalls communications advisor Éric Laparé. The following year, it was the lack of personnel that complicated the task of the City of Montérégie.
“Several employees in charge of the audit file left their functions while the exercise was being finalized, all in a work context still greatly disrupted by the pandemic. »
No consequences
Remember that the deadlines have been postponed by the ministry in the last two years due to the health crisis. The City of Châteauguay considers that a postponement is again “desirable” this year, for the filing of the 2021 financial report.
Despite its repeated delays, the City of Châteauguay – like all the other latecomers, for that matter – was not sanctioned by the ministry. She received a simple warning. The late filing of financial reports has had no impact on the timeliness of funding, she argues, despite concerns expressed by the ministry.
Reference-www.journaldequebec.com