Financial Post
The budgets that show a city’s plans for the upcoming fiscal year and the audited financial statements that report its results after year-end are crucial tools both for the city councillors who steward public funds and for the public that holds them accountable. But, as the C.D. Howe Institute’s latest scorecard on the transparency and accountability of Canada’s 32 largest municipalities reveals, many city budgets remain opaque. They are more likely to confuse councillors and the public than inform them. …
Happily, over the years more cities have been following PSAS in at least some of their budget presentations. In 2010, exactly none of Canada’s major municipalities showed PSAS-consistent projections anywhere in their budgets. But the C.D. Howe Institute’s 2023 report card, which covered the 32 largest municipalities, found 20 showing at least some PSAS-consistent numbers. Ideally, all cities would follow the lead of Richmond, B.C., and present an entirely PSAS-consistent budget, but it is encouraging to see the spread of presentations that make budgets more transparent and useful. …