Annual budgets in most of Canada’s major cities are a mess – excluding key activities, using inconsistent accounting, burying crucial numbers where only experts can find them, and often voted well after the fiscal year has started, according the 2016 edition of the C.D. Howe Institute’s Municipal Fiscal Accountability report. In “Two Sets of Books at City Hall? Grading the Financial Reports of Canada’s Cities,” authors Benjamin Dachis, William B.P. Robson, and Jennifer Y. Tsao grade the financial presentations of major Canadian cities in their most recent budgets and financial reports.
Two Sets of Books at City Hall Grading the Financial Reports of Canada’s Cities [2015]
The C.D. Howe Institute has released a grading of larger municipal cities since the original report in 2016. Although some cities have improved, nothing has changed in Cobourg. If a grading were assigned to Cobourg, we would give it an “F”.
2024
Could Do Better: Grading the Fiscal Accountability of Canada’s Municipalities
2023
The Municipal Money Mystery Fiscal Accountability in Canada’s Cities,
2022
Fiscal Accountability in Canada’s Cities
2021
Solving the Municipal Budget Mystery Fiscal Accountability in Canada’s Cities
2019
From A to F: Grading the Fiscal Transparency of Canada’s Cities, 2019
What You See Is Not What You Get Budgets versus Results in Canada’s Major Cities
Show Us the Numbers Grading the Financial Reports of Canada’s Municipalities
2018
Fiscal Accountability – How to Improve Your Grades
2017
Fuzzy Finances: Grading the Financial Reports of Canada’s Municipalities
2015
Building Better Budgets: Canada’s Cities Should Clean Up their Financial Reporting
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