The City of Vernon was pleased to receive the Auditor General for Local Government’s (AGLG) Performance Audit Report that noted the City’s commitment to managing procurement transactions, related risks and obtaining value for Vernon residents and taxpayers. The audit found that the City was committed to managing procurement transactions and related risks and obtaining value for taxpayers. Further, the report noted that the City worked to achieve continuous improvement in its procurement, seeking to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of this function.
Mayor Akbal Mund has committed to addressing the recommendations contained with the audit, noting that many of the recommendations have already been implemented by the City since the audit period was concluded in 2012.
“The City of Vernon has pursued continual improvement of our purchasing environment,” said Mayor Mund. “The City has moved to a centralized purchasing environment, and implemented electronic purchase orders and document scanning of paid invoices—all in a move toward improving efficiency. Further, our Council has full stewardship of the budget and consistently monitors results of the Corporation of the City of Vernon. We are committed to financial and operational best practices so that we can continue to provide value to our residents and business owners in Vernon.”
Following Premier Christy Clark’s announcement to form the office of the AGLG at the 2012 UBCM convention, then-Mayor Rob Sawatzky stepped forward to volunteer the City of Vernon as one of the first B.C. municipalities to receive the performance audit. At that convention, Premier Clark announced the purpose of the AGLG was to find and share best practices among B.C. municipalities. Mayor Sawatzky was confident that constructive recommendations from the AGLG report combined with recommendations from the Core Service Review completed by KPMG in 2013 would allow the City to deliver improved value-for-money services to Vernon’s taxpayers as well as provide best practices that would benefit other B.C. municipalities.
“The City looks forward to reviewing AGLG-recommended best practices for local governments in B.C. to consider,” said Mayor Mund.