The Canadian Revenue Agency has clawed back money from the Municipality of Lunenburg.
The CRA reassessed HST claims after an audit was conducted between December 2010 to March 2013.
The municipality has paid back almost $620,000.
However, CAO Kevin Malloy feels the auditor should have checked electronic records instead of paper.
“It would have shown the transactions and events in a different format and he would have been able to trace the transactions through more completely.”
They have hired accounting firm Grant Thornton to appeal the decision.
The process could take up to 18 months to conclude.
Meanwhile, Malloy says staff didn’t tell council about the audit.
He says there was a breakdown in communication.
“It’s staff’s responsibility to ensure that council is aware of what is going and the ball was clearly dropped on this one.”
Malloy says it hasn’t been decided yet if there will be repercussions against staff.
He says they will hire a consultant to review the matter and bring back a report with recommendations.
