A recent meeting of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo council showed that at least some members were hesitant to write off unpaid debt in an amount close to a quarter of a million dollars. The meeting on Monday was scheduled for an audit and budget committee meeting, and the councilors expressed a need for further information before they decided whether or not to write off unpaid debt from two different companies. One of the companies owes $216,000 and has filed for bankruptcy. The other debt included in the amount is a company still in the collection process which owes the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo $23,522. At the council meeting Councilor Bussieres said “I just can’t believe we’d write a quarter of a million dollars off. I think we need more information … I’m not prepared to write this off.”
One concern that the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo councilors expressed was the amount involved to write off unpaid debt by just two companies. Committee Chair, Councilor Sheldon Germain, “The questions were regarding those particular situations, but the bigger thing that came out of it, to Coun. Bussieres’ credit, is what policies and procedures do we as a governance board have to put in place so we’re not writing off large numbers (of money). It’s about trying to get policy in the future that doesn’t allow accounts receivable to get that high and … make sure that the municipality doesn’t get caught in that position again.”Councilor Tyran Ault asked “Who’s going to fault this company for setting up under a different name two months later?”