New Brunswick Auditor General Paul Martin says the province has recorded its fourth consecutive surplus, but more work needs to be done to address its debt.
Martin released two volumes of his annual report Thursday.
According to Martin’s report, New Brunswick’s net debt dropped from $13.9 billion in 2020 to $13.5 billion in 2021.
“Even though this decrease in net debt is encouraging, more work remains given the ongoing historic level of New Brunswick’s debt. For comparison, net debt is still $3.4 billion higher than it was in 2012,” said Martin in a news release.
According to the newly-appointed auditor general, the COVID-19 pandemic greatly influenced provincial revenues and expenses in fiscal 2021.
“This year’s surplus of $409 million is largely driven by revenue increases in federal transfers, tobacco taxes, and earnings at NB Liquor, offset by revenue reductions in other areas such as personal income tax, harmonized sales tax (HST), and lottery and gaming revenue. Expenses also varied from previous years with increases in health and protection services but decreases in areas such as economic development,” said the New Brunswick government in a news release.”
In his report, Martin also highlighted some areas of concern, such as NB Power’s ability to self-sustain operations, unresolved access to Vestcor, Service New Brunswick’s property assessment processes and the province’s aging IT systems.
SOME RECOMMENDATIONS REMAIN UNIMPLEMENTED
The report also calls attention to areas of unimplemented recommendations in performance audits from 2015 to 2019, which Martin says leaves taxpayers “exposed to ongoing risks.”
According to the report, 65 per cent of recommendations have been implemented.
“Overall, I am disappointed to see the amount of recommendations that have yet to be implemented based on previous years’ performance audits,” said Martin.
“I understand that some of these recommendations may be complex, however, we encourage departments and Crown agencies to continue their work on unimplemented recommendations.”
The auditor general says follow-up work was done on recommendations surrounding issues like residential property assessments, Atcon and climate change.
CONCERNS ABOUT EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS
Martin also expressed concerns about the province’s Residential Energy Efficiency programs in his report.
“Energy efficiency programs are key to addressing climate change and greenhouse gas emissions while helping households spend less on energy bills,” he said.
“We were curious to see how New Brunswick compared to other Atlantic provinces and found that the province spends significantly less on energy efficiency programs per capita than Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.”
According to Martin’s report, many New Brunswickers are unable to afford the up-front costs that come with energy efficiency upgrades that would qualify for NB Power’s energy efficiency programs.
“This is in part because the department (Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development) did not mandate NB Power to implement a financing mechanism for those who do not have the upfront capital to complete necessary work,” Martin explained.
“Overall, NB Power did not adequately address the barriers of low- and moderate-income New Brunswickers and non-electric households to access energy efficiency programs.”
While the audit acknowledged NB power has succeeded in delivering residential energy efficiency programs to those who are able to participate, it pointed to the utility’s lack of public reporting on the programs and to the Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development’s ineffectiveness in overseeing those programs.
“We also noted that the department never challenged targets set by NB Power for energy efficiency even when those targets were lowered by NB Power,” said Martin.
“In my view, these oversight and accountability gaps impede the province’s ability to make the desired progress in energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction.”
In his report, Martin put forth seven recommendations to address the outstanding issues.
INCONSISTENT SALARY AND BENEFITS PRACTICES
Following a survey of 14 agencies in New Brunswick, Martin said “notable differences were found when comparing salary and benefits practices between certain Crown agencies and core government.”
Salaries and benefits expenses of the Crown agencies surveyed were found to cost over $2 billion in 2019 and represented up to 75 per cent of expenses for some.
“If the expectation is that salary and benefits practices are to be consistent with central government and among Crown agencies, then more work is needed” said Martin.
“For instance, the government should define what it expects from Crown agencies, as part of the Memorandum of Understanding that establishes expectations from central government for certain Crown agencies where government is not the employer.”
Martin says differences were found in the following areas:
- bonuses
- merit increases
- vacation
- health and wellness spending
“This is possible due to a combination of wording issues in the government’s direction to these entities, as well as an outdated central government policy,” said Martin.
The auditor general made two recommendations in his report to address the inconsistencies:
- clearly define what the government expects for salary and benefits practices for non-bargaining employees
- update a government policy to reflect current government practice
AG report: N.B. records fourth consecutive surplus but more work needed - CTV News Atlantic
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment