Residents are calling for more accountability and oversight of Brampton\u2019s nearly $1.4 billion budget, nearly a decade after city council rejected calls for an independent Auditor General.<\/p>\n
In 2017, an Ombudsman of Ontario report recommended that the city hire a permanent auditor general, and implied a secret bonus program had taken place among senior staff for five years, with some $1.25 million paid out to staff in supposed unmonitored bonuses.<\/p>\n
Peel Regional Police were called in to investigate, and found that no criminal offences were committed by City of Brampton employees.<\/p>\n
Brampton City Council voted down a motion from then-Mayor Linda Jeffery in December 2017 to hire an Auditor General, with Jeffery calling the decision a rejection of accountability, openness and transparency by city councillors<\/a>.<\/p>\n Current Wards 2 and 6 City and Regional Coun. Michael Palleschi voted to remove part of a report recommending Brampton hire a permanent Auditor General, while Wards 3 and 4 City and Regional Coun. Martin Medeiros was absent.<\/p>\n But local residents are now renewing the call for the city to contract an independent auditor to \u201cprotect taxpayers\u2019 money and restore public trust\u201d with a new online petition.<\/p>\n \u201cBrampton spends more than $1.4 billion a year. That is taxpayers\u2019 money, and residents deserve to know it is spent fairly, legally and wisely. Right now, they can\u2019t be sure,\u201d the petition started on Change.org reads<\/a>.<\/p>\n The petition takes aim at Brampton\u2019s internal audit processes, which allocates resources, sets audit priorities, determines the scopes of work and communicates results. The city also has a more than $500,000 contract with KPMG LLP to perform annual audits of the city\u2019s accounts, transactions and local boards.<\/p>\n \u201cBrampton\u2019s audit function reports to the City\u2019s own administration, not independently to the public. That is the structural conflict an independent Auditor General is designed to remove,\u201d the petition states.<\/p>\n \u201cAn Auditor General isn\u2019t about blame. It\u2019s about good governance, ethics and public trust.\u201d<\/p>\n