The Town of Amherstburg is changing the makeup of its Audit Advisory Committee to give the public more say.
In the past, the committee consisted of two councillors and one member of the community — under the new rules there will be three residents and two council members.
Councillor Michael Prue called for the change and believes the audit committee should belong to the people, not the council.
"The way it was structured was two members of council and one member of the community. I think that that is not appropriate. The town needs to feel confident that the council is doing everything that it can to safeguard and spent the money properly."
He says it's all about transparency and accountability.
"What better way then to have some other people on the committee who are not councillors who can have their input and who can absolutely assuage the fears of people who think the money is not being spent right?"
Amherstburg councillor Michael Prue after a council meeting on February 11, 2019 (Photo by AM800's Zander Broeckel)
Prue says residents have questioned town finances in the past.
"I know that the money is not always spent the way everybody wants it spent, but when you have an audit committee that can say, "You should have used this process. You should have spent the money this way as opposed to that way," then people will start to believe what they're reading rather than what they're reading on a blog."
The Audit Advisory Committee provides an extra layer of oversight during the town's budget process while giving recommendations on possible improvements.
The five member committee will be appointed for a four year term.