Defrauded hamlet back in black
Fort McPherson financially stable; mayor and council elections set for December
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Monday, August 29, 2016
TETLIT'ZHEH/FORT MCPHERSON
The Hamlet of Fort McPherson has regained financial stability and appears to be well on its way to taking over its finances once again, said the deputy minister of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA).
Tom Williams made the comment just days after the hamlet's former director of finance was sentenced to two years less a day in jail and given a restitution order to pay back $399,287 after she was convicted of fraud over $5,000.
Ina Koe, 45, received her punishment on Aug. 18 in territorial court in Fort McPherson. She had pleaded guilty to misappropriating the funds between 2010 and 2013.
Williams was quick to point out the fraud was far from the only financial mismanagement in the community of about 800 people on the banks of the Peel River in the Beaufort-Delta region.
Indeed, MACA relieved the hamlet's mayor and council of their duties in July 2014 after reaching the conclusion that the elected officials would be unlikely to approve and implement a debt reduction plan. That followed the implementation by MACA of cost saving measures designed to rid the community of its $2.1-million deficit.
At that time, MACA officials appointed a municipal administrator to take over the day-to-day operations in the hamlet and brought in a number of cost-saving measures. These included increasing municipal service rates and reducing municipal employees' work hours.
Williams said the deficit has been eliminated and there are now surpluses in some areas.
The hamlet is still being run by MACA officials but Williams said that will be scaled back after the election of a new mayor and council coming up in mid-December. He said a supervisor will stay on likely for a year, to make sure the new council spends within its means.
In late July, the territorial government announced Osei Bosompem had been hired as municipal administrator for the community. He took over from Bill Buckle who had been brought in to help get the hamlet's finances back in order. Buckle, a professional financial troubleshooter, is now taking some well-deserved time off after his contract expired, Williams said.
Williams added he is pleased the hamlet is now back in the black after the deficit reduction program but he added it was not easy to get there because some user rates had not gone up in about a decade.
 | No clear whether user fees will come down | 
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"There has been new procurement bylaws and employment bylaws put in place. We had to make changes to to program deliveries, water delivery for instance," Williams said. "Residents did have to pay higher costs ... we now have a fixed rate for water delivery and sewer pick up ... so there was a savings there."
Williams said the deficit could not have been eliminated without the dedication of hamlet staff as well as support from community members.
It is not entirely clear whether user fees will come back down now that the deficit has been reduced.
Williams said he believes Koe will be welcome back in the community once she has finished her sentence just not as the hamlet's chief financial officer.
"The former chief said there are people who are pretty upset about (the fraud) and then there are others. It's a pretty close-knit community. She has a lot of family members there," Williams said. "There will be some forgiveness. People have to understand it wasn't just her fraud that sent the community into deficit."
Williams added that even though Koe has been ordered to pay restitution, the money that she was convicted of defrauding the community of has already been covered by insurance held by the NWT Association of Communities.
The RCMP's financial crime section began an investigation in March, 2013 following a forensic financial audit of the hamlet's finances. Koe was charged in June of last year.
According to court documents she was accused of defrauding the hamlet by using a hamlet credit card for personal use. She was arrested in Whitehorse in February after missing two December court dates in the NWT.
"This guilty plea is the result of a lengthy investigation and subsequent court proceedings," stated RCMP Const. Andy Bezanson, investigator with the financial crime section.
"Economic integrity is one of the strategic priorities of the RCMP and this result shows that hard work and dedication in investigations can lead to justice for those affected by financial crime."
The RCMP also praised Fort McPherson residents for their patience during the lengthy investigation.
