City of Vancouver spent $5.96 million on furniture in a 30-month period

Feb 22 2023, 8:16 pm

A 30-month audit has found that the City of Vancouver’s furniture purchases were made with the “best value” in mind, with some exceptions.

Over those 30 months, the City spent $5.96 million to purchase, repair and install office furniture.

This furniture audit is the second report from the office of the new auditor general, Mike Macdonnell.

In 2020, the City of Vancouver was scrutinized after it was revealed that furniture purchases were made from high-end retailer Herman Miller.

While the newly released audit doesn’t specifically mention those purchases from 2020, it does make some general statements about the City of Vancouver’s furniture purchases overall.

At the time, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation called on then-mayor Kennedy Stewart to return the furniture valued at over $300,000.

While the audit focused on the idea that the City had the “best value” in mind according to policies, guidelines and priorities, there were some exceptions.

“The audit found exceptions related to the processes the City used to qualify office furniture suppliers and deficiencies in the Procurement Policy related to trade agreement obligations,” the report reads.

“The City had not defined how often to update assessments to ensure continued best value in office furniture selections, did not have sufficient documentation for one assessment and did not conduct assessments for newly introduced furniture items.”

The report also contained five recommendations to “enhance the City’s ability to achieve best value in the purchase of office furniture.”

To read the full report, click here.

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