New Brunswick’s Auditor General has indicated her department’s report won’t include the government’s contingency fund — a reserve account now listed at $80 million — and that the use of such a fund isn’t recognized by current accounting standards.
READ MORE: New Brunswick government dips into contingency fund after first quarter
Kim MacPherson said that while it is the government’s prerogative to prepare their budget how they see fit, the contingency fund numbers can add a level of confusion for the general public.
“It’s not like there’s an extra $150 million pot of money that can be used towards program spending,” MacPherson explained. “It simply was an amount added onto the deficit.”
“I find it’s an unnecessary layer of complexity for the public to have to understand,” she said.
Finance Minister Cathy Rogers defends her government’s accounting practices and says a reserve account, though often labelled under a different name, is a frequently used method by government’s across the country.
The Office of the Auditor General is currently working on this year’s audit however the provincial “slush fund” won’t be included when they draw up their tally.
MacPherson said preparing a budget on a different basis as the actual figures, will require some sort of reconciliation to explain the differences and at this point those details are yet to be ironed out.
“I’m not certain as to how it will be presented as we finish the audit for this year,” MacPherson said. “That remains to be determined.”
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