As I mentioned above I based my main study of the period 2011 to 2022 on the city’s audited financial statements.  This was largely because these are clear, unambiguous statements that are error free.  I can’t say the same for some of the other budget material posted on the city’s website. I observed numerous errors and misleading statements in these. Below is just one example. It’s important to note, that this problem is not confined to the example below, there are other areas with similar errors.

In 2021 the Art Centre stopped presenting a standard income statement, which would have clearly shown changes in revenues and expenses. They adopted a statement with what appear to be two versions of the same data. In the top part it appears to show revenues and expenses totally $10,482. However when you total the numbers shown you find that the actual total is ($38,368), instead of $10,482 and the total for 2021 is ($46,742) as opposed to $2,108.  Oddly, in both of these years an expense line item of exactly $48,850 is required to achieve the totals presented. This is very suspicious and suggests the statement is not at all based on the expected costs in 2022.  It does not at all reflect reality which is why an independent audit is required to see what is really happening at the Art Gallery.