Former mayor McDougall pays back $17K in personal expenses charged to CBRM credit card

Cape Breton Regional Municipality's former mayor has had to pay back nearly $17,000 after an investigation found she used a CBRM credit card for personal expenses.

In December, the municipality hired Sydney, N.S., lawyer Robert Sampson to look into credit card irregularities attributed to former mayor Amanda McDougall, who did not re-offer in October's municipal election.

In a report to council following a three-hour closed-door session Tuesday, Sampson said he and local Grant Thornton accountant John MacNeil found roughly $76,000 in unreported expenses going back 18 months. Those included the personal expenses as well as nearly $60,000 in legitimate business costs that were not properly reported.

Current Mayor Cecil Clarke said the numbers just didn't add up and that raised red flags.

"Anything that isn't accounted for for an extended period of time becomes a concern," he said. "Even with extenuating circumstances in place, this is an extraordinary amount of time."

The personal expenses included travel and accommodations, meals, Uber rides, several expensive Costco purchases, nearly $700 spent at Home Depot and a $2,000 dental bill.

According to CBRM policy, personal expenses are not allowed on CBRM credit cards.

Sampson said McDougall co-operated with the investigation and has paid all the money back.

In an emailed statement, McDougall admitted she made mistakes. She said she took on administrative tasks on top of her mayoral duties after her office manager took time off to care for a terminally ill relative.

"What I did wrong was not reaching out when the duties of my mayoral office and the administration of my office became too much," McDougall said.

After the report was presented to council, Coun. Glenn Paruch said he and his colleagues from the last council had no knowledge of the problems with the former mayor's expenses.

"Nobody knew that this happened," he said. "It's quite a shock to us all."

Clarke said the credit card policy has been tightened up to align with provincial rules and make sure the accounting of credit card charges gets done in a timely manner.

"You'll see now that in extraordinary cases, it's a two-month period," he said. "If the reporting is not provided and the reconciliation is not done, the card will be suspended."

Clarke also said a report on the investigation is under review by the Department of Municipal Affairs.

The report and the list of McDougall's business and personal credit card charges have been posted on the municipal website.

CBRM, like other municipalities in Nova Scotia, is required to publicly post council member expenses quarterly.

As mayor, it's no surprise McDougall racked up the most expenses over her four-year term, but the final total has yet to be posted.

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