The Ontario Municipal Board says it won't be able to do what Niagara Region's Audit Committee is asking.
In a 7-2 vote yesterday members of the committee voted to ask the province to have the Ontario Municipal Board conduct its own investigation into the town of Pelham's finances dating back to 2008.
The OMB's Communications Consultant Monica Patricio confirming to CKTB that they would not be able to do that since it's not under their jurisdiction.
She says the OMB can only hear matters that are brought to it in accordance with appropriate legislation, where it has jurisdiction. As such, the OMB does not have jurisdiction over concerns regarding the finances of municipalities.
This all stems from concerns regarding Pelham's finances, which some have called a 'witch hunt' from the start.
The town underwent a KPMG last year in response to allegations of 17 million dollars in undisclosed debt - the auditing firm found that 17 million dollar figure could be attributed to debt that had been approved, but never actually enacted.
CKTB asked Regional Chair Alan Caslin why they chose the OMB which typically is not known for doing these types of inquiries, Caslin says he believes every ministerial body would have a role in an audit.
That's not the case with the OMB.
The vote yesterday came after the committee heard from members of a group calling itself Pelham DEBT who contend the KPMG audit did not answer all their questions surrounding financing for the new community centre now under construction.
Caslin says there are inconsistencies in the audit, and there are statements in the audit the lead to more questions.
CKTB has reached out to KPMG's Senior Vice President and Forensic Partner Karen Grogan who made the audit presentation to the town and residents back in November for comment on Caslin's statement.
You can read more and even watch the KPMG presentation by CLICKING HERE.
Caslin says when 37 people show up demanding answering questions about a town's finances they must take action.