It all seems serene, a symbolic front cover of the ‘West Weekend’ magazine
with Shire President, David Wallace, an emblematic ‘White Rose of York’ amid a
sea of gold-tipped canola.
For the first time in a long time there is a positive overall picture and story on the town of York itself- and its future.
The apt title is ‘Field of Dreams’ rather than nightmares about the ghosts of the past like ‘The town where time stands still’ featuring the Town Hall clock once permanently stuck on 5 minutes to midnight, and ‘Chainsaw Massacre’ on the fall of a mighty Fichus and other Shire inspired arboreal desecration.
Locals are now investing in their own town.
In years gone by it was entrepreneurs from the city, with at least one having a stint at Her Majesty’s Pleasure for tax evasion.
Local venture capitalization by members of the community is by far the most positive development for York in its pilloried local government, post bellum era.
Now come the potential storm clouds hiding behind a silver lining.
Time and time again letters were sent to Mr. Colin Murphy demanding that the auditing procedures of certain councils be investigated where money was being ill-spent or mysteriously disappearing. The response was that the ‘Auditor General’ had no remit to scrutinize the expenditure of ‘government monies’ for which there is actually no known meaning through any dictionary definition.
It was assumed that it meant rates raised by, and government loans and grants received by Local Government Councils to spend on essential community services.
Actually, it is parliamentary pecuniary patois to cover a multitude of current, inept financial expenditure regulations and their associated sins.
Now after an interminable delay the penny has finally dropped and Local Government Area ‘government monies’ are no longer sacrosanct and immune from ‘best practice’ audit procedures.
Too many councils are at extreme risk in their finance management and too much public financial hardship endured through massive domestic rate loadings above Gross Rental Value caused by what is laughingly called ‘council mistakes’.
Then there was the hiring of private accounting companies to provide financial year audits where the service provider may be inveigled by a particular council to ‘gloss-over’ financial discrepancies and signs of mismanagement.
One example is maybe when a Local Government Shire Council owns and operates a commercial business.
Its haphazard monthly stocktake/ financial reports consist mainly of and/or a reliance on till transactions which are now to be monitored by CCTV. (Some documents cannot be found or do not exist.)
Monthly stock purchasers may include amber liquid in 6 different keg varieties and 26 packaged options. Some so exotic they are only known to the avid connoisseur.
There are certainly many labels to suit a multitude of tastes, but certainly no purchases in sufficient volumes to give any economy of scale. It’s the options you might not even be given in a five-star bar.
Could a case be put forward in future for a special audit given the above? The answer is more than likely!
So what ignited the State Government-to- Local Government Exocet audit missile- and saw it launched?.
The Director General of the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, Duncan Ord, has informed All Local Governments that the WA Auditor General will now audit all local government finances and performance.
The required amendments to the Local Government Act 1995 received Royal Assent on September 1, 2017.
The Auditor General will commence liaising with local governments in October, 2017, advising them of performance audits that will examine the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of their programs and organizations to ensure full compliance with legislative provisions and internal policies.
In future the Shire of York must publish its annual report, including the annual financial report and the auditor’s report as a full public disclosure on its official website to allow ratepayers to judge its performance.
This may see any new Councillor elected on October 21, 2017 engaged in a mad scramble to ensure that the Shire of York Administration has the required facts and figures to meet an upcoming, far more invasive audit experience.
It may just be the precursor to an even more serious transfer of power and impunity, from local government back to the WA State Government after the 2018 Local Government Act, 1995, Review.
All councils and councillors must be aware of this and take any necessary precautions to face a possibly vastly different and far less amenable Local Government Act, 2019 .
David Taylor.
For the first time in a long time there is a positive overall picture and story on the town of York itself- and its future.
The apt title is ‘Field of Dreams’ rather than nightmares about the ghosts of the past like ‘The town where time stands still’ featuring the Town Hall clock once permanently stuck on 5 minutes to midnight, and ‘Chainsaw Massacre’ on the fall of a mighty Fichus and other Shire inspired arboreal desecration.
Locals are now investing in their own town.
In years gone by it was entrepreneurs from the city, with at least one having a stint at Her Majesty’s Pleasure for tax evasion.
Local venture capitalization by members of the community is by far the most positive development for York in its pilloried local government, post bellum era.
Now come the potential storm clouds hiding behind a silver lining.
Time and time again letters were sent to Mr. Colin Murphy demanding that the auditing procedures of certain councils be investigated where money was being ill-spent or mysteriously disappearing. The response was that the ‘Auditor General’ had no remit to scrutinize the expenditure of ‘government monies’ for which there is actually no known meaning through any dictionary definition.
It was assumed that it meant rates raised by, and government loans and grants received by Local Government Councils to spend on essential community services.
Actually, it is parliamentary pecuniary patois to cover a multitude of current, inept financial expenditure regulations and their associated sins.
Now after an interminable delay the penny has finally dropped and Local Government Area ‘government monies’ are no longer sacrosanct and immune from ‘best practice’ audit procedures.
Too many councils are at extreme risk in their finance management and too much public financial hardship endured through massive domestic rate loadings above Gross Rental Value caused by what is laughingly called ‘council mistakes’.
Then there was the hiring of private accounting companies to provide financial year audits where the service provider may be inveigled by a particular council to ‘gloss-over’ financial discrepancies and signs of mismanagement.
One example is maybe when a Local Government Shire Council owns and operates a commercial business.
Its haphazard monthly stocktake/ financial reports consist mainly of and/or a reliance on till transactions which are now to be monitored by CCTV. (Some documents cannot be found or do not exist.)
Monthly stock purchasers may include amber liquid in 6 different keg varieties and 26 packaged options. Some so exotic they are only known to the avid connoisseur.
There are certainly many labels to suit a multitude of tastes, but certainly no purchases in sufficient volumes to give any economy of scale. It’s the options you might not even be given in a five-star bar.
Could a case be put forward in future for a special audit given the above? The answer is more than likely!
So what ignited the State Government-to- Local Government Exocet audit missile- and saw it launched?.
The Director General of the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, Duncan Ord, has informed All Local Governments that the WA Auditor General will now audit all local government finances and performance.
The required amendments to the Local Government Act 1995 received Royal Assent on September 1, 2017.
The Auditor General will commence liaising with local governments in October, 2017, advising them of performance audits that will examine the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of their programs and organizations to ensure full compliance with legislative provisions and internal policies.
In future the Shire of York must publish its annual report, including the annual financial report and the auditor’s report as a full public disclosure on its official website to allow ratepayers to judge its performance.
This may see any new Councillor elected on October 21, 2017 engaged in a mad scramble to ensure that the Shire of York Administration has the required facts and figures to meet an upcoming, far more invasive audit experience.
It may just be the precursor to an even more serious transfer of power and impunity, from local government back to the WA State Government after the 2018 Local Government Act, 1995, Review.
All councils and councillors must be aware of this and take any necessary precautions to face a possibly vastly different and far less amenable Local Government Act, 2019 .
David Taylor.
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