AG shines spotlight on authority’s finances
Board members’ claims for per diems up 422 per cent
Ontario’s Auditor General probe into Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority shone a spotlight on the agency’s finances — and nothing was more eye-popping than expenses claimed by board members.
The total number of meetings NPCA board members claimed per diems for increased 422 per cent —from 121 in 2010 to 632 in 2017. Most members are regional councillors.
“It is the equivalent of 42 meetings for each NPCA board member in 2017,” the auditor general’s report released Thursday afternoon said.
“In comparison, board members in 28 of the other 35 conservation authorities claimed an average of four meetings each in 2017.”
The board per diem rate of $75 is in line with the average rate of $73 for other conservation authorities.
However, the auditor general found that from 2013 to 2017 the average annual payment per NPCA board member of $3,500 was more than twice the average yearly payment per board member from the other conservation authorities surveyed. In the same period, each NPCA board member received per diems for an average of 25 meetings annually — five times the number of meetings claimed by each board member in the other conservation authorities surveyed.
“The report confirms that the majority of municipalities across Niagara were right in listening to the residents and calling for the audit,” Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn said.
“There should be a comprehensive reform of the NPCA. It needs new board members. Some who are experts in conservation and the environment. Others could be lawyers or managers well versed in best practices for running the place.”
The Standard also reached out to board chair Sandy Annunziata, a regional councillor for Fort Erie, and chief administrative officer Mark Brickell for interviews, but staff directed the reporter to emailed statements.
Welland Mayor Frank Campion was in meetings all afternoon and hadn’t had a chance to read the report. Board member Tony Quirk, a regional councillor for Grimsby, did not respond to a request for an interview.
NPCA policies allow per diem payments for attending board meetings, standing committees and “other business functions” — but don’t specify what qualifies as “other business functions.”
One enterprising board member received per diem payments for 145 meetings in 2017. Only 28 were for board or committee meetings. The remainder were for activities such as signing board meeting minutes and preparing for board and committee meetings.
Almost 70 per cent of conservation authorities do not pay per diems for attending events.
Another section of the report examined a $3-million payment provided by Ontario Power Generation to NPCA for improving the health of the Welland River, including tree planting, wetland restoration, outreach activities and acquisition of wetlands and floodplain lands. The auditor general found that NPCA only spent $1.45 million of the money provided and could not give details to account for the rest of the funds other than amounts and locations.
Other projects undertaken were not eligible for funding under the OPG agreement. They included landscaping projects in Lincoln, Grimsby, Wainfleet, St. Catharines, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Hamilton.
The agency was planning to use OPG funding to purchase equipment to collect water quality data and aerial photography for the entire watershed.
The report said NPCA’s annual legal costs increased by 633 per cent between 2012 and 2017. This increase was caused by restructurings, a dispute over the municipal levy with Hamilton and civil suits. Nonetheless, the auditor general said NPCA exempts legal services from a competitive procurement process that almost all government agencies undertake.