BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The City of Vaudreuil-Dorion is one of three municipalities across the province that will be subjected to a performance audit by the Commission municipal du Québec, it was announced last month.

Specifically, the examination by the provincial administrative tribunal will focus on the practices involving municipal vehicle fleets, the commission stated, including how vehicle maintenance is planned, implemented and monitored as part of a municipality’s responsibilities to deliver services.

The other towns selected to undergo the review are Boisbriand, a town in the Laurentians with a population of roughly 28,300; and Sorel-Tracy, east of Montreal on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, which has just over 35,165 residents. Vaudreuil-Dorion has a population of 43,270, according to the 2021 census.

“The performance and availability of vehicles, machinery and equipment operated by municipalities are crucial for many citizen services, including snow removal, roadworks and the maintenance of infrastructure, buildings and parks, to name a few,” the commission outlined in a public statement. “Municipalities are, therefore, responsible for periodically maintaining their rolling stock to ensure its proper functioning throughout its lifespan, thus meeting the needs of their community.”

“Auditing the maintenance and availability of rolling stock means ensuring that municipalities have the necessary means to provide essential, reliable and continuous services to their population,” said Nancy Klein, interim president and vice-president of the municipal commission’s audit division.

The commission will conduct a detailed analysis of the procedures used in each municipality that has been selected for the audit. A report will then be prepared and made public. The process is expected to take a few months to complete.

The municipal commission routinely carries out a series of audits focused on a variety of issues involving municipalities every year.

The topics selected are based on risk analyses and other sources of information, including financial analyses, media monitoring, topics of interest, and concerns expressed by various stakeholders involved in the municipal sector, said commission spokesman David Dusseault in response to questions from The 1019 Report.

Hudson was part of 2023 audit

In 2023, the municipal commission conducted a financial audit of budgetary surpluses and reserves in towns with fewer than 10,000 residents that included Hudson and two other municipalities. It concluded that Hudson lacked the appropriate planning and supervision when it came to the management of its accumulated budget surpluses, according to the commission’s report issued in March 2024. It also made a series of recommendations.

According to the report, in 2021, Hudson had accumulated $9.9 million in allocated and unallocated surpluses. The total dropped to $9.8 million in 2022, which represents about 58 per cent of the town’s total budget for the current year. That figure has been whittled down since then, as the current council has used some funds to offset recent capital expenditures.

Earlier this year, Hudson council approved it annual financial report that showed it ended 2024 with a $2.2-million operating budget surplus, and an accumulated surplus standing at $5.2 million, up from $4.7 million at the end of 2023.

A request for comment from Vaudreuil-Dorion director-general Olivier Van Neste by The 1019 Report has gone unanswered.