All sides involved in a controversy over the finances of the Kaslo and District Arena Association say they’re relieved the matter has been resolved and want to move on.
The dispute threatened to hold up the release of funds by the Regional District of Central Kootenay and consequently delay the arena’s opening this year.
It followed a request in May by Kaslo mayor Greg Lay and rural director Andy Shadrack for a professional audit of the society’s statements, which was expected to cost around $5,000.
“We were told there were some anonymous complaints,” says Kul Nijjar, the association’s treasurer. “But they wouldn’t tell us what the concerns were. To date, nobody has said why they were concerned with the books.”
The arena association only learned about the audit from a local newspaper.
In a letter to the regional district, the association called the request “unprecedented,” and said it implied “mismanagement of funds [which] has caused personal and professional injury to each volunteer arena board member.”
At stake was about $42,000 in an annual operating grant.
In the end, however, the motion for the audit was rescinded Thursday and the money released upon receipt of a statement from a third party that all was in order.
Local resident Pam Walker, who is not an accountant but has financial experience, did a pro bono review of the arena’s 2010-11 statements and “found no errors or omissions. I have found the books to be balanced to the best of my knowledge.”
Nijjar says they’re relieved to put the matter to rest, and can now focus on completing repairs to the arena before this fall’s opening.
“It’s been very stressful, but we are looking forward to putting it behind us,” she says, adding she doesn’t anticipate any further difficulties with the directors involved.
“We’re committed to making it work. Mostly I’m just glad it’s over and we can move forward.”
Nijjar credits regional district chair John Kettle for helping broker the resolution.
Kettle attributed the problem to “a terrible lack of communication ... Everyone could have handled this a little better, but I think the conclusion was excellent. The arena association did what they needed to make this go away and everybody is back on track.”
Kettle says the dispute also revealed a weakness in policy, which the board plans to fix. In future, all societies that receive annual funding from the regional district will also get a written outline of what sort of reporting they need to provide.
Although the new policy hasn’t been drafted yet, Kettle anticipates different requirements based on funding levels: “You can’t swat a fly with a shotgun. If you’re getting $10,000 and it costs $5,000 for an audited statement, we’re not going to ask for that.”
However, groups receiving $50,000 or more may be required to provide audited statements every three years.
“Some good will come out of this,” he says. “We should have had a policy. Sometimes it takes a punch in the nose to wake you up.”
Shadrack was also glad the matter was resolved.
“I believe directors have a responsibility and a right to ask questions about public funds,” he says. “But at times I felt very awkward in the process, because it was never my intention to impugn anybody’s reputation.
“I felt I was in a situation where some questions had been raised that I didn’t have the skills to answer ... Maybe other people would have handled it differently, but I felt this had to be handled quite formally.”
Lay refused comment, except to say: “The goal is to get the arena operating.”