The city has been negotiating prices for snow removal and other hauling services with the Greater Ottawa Truckers Association, a local industry umbrella group, since before amalgamation.
However auditor general Alain Lalonde found the city could do better. The city payed $87.90 for an hour of service while a similar municipality his office spoke to was paying $72.82.
“The true market rates have never been competitively established and the city is not benefiting from market forces,” said the report, tabled Thursday.
Allowing an open bidding process would save $680,000 in snow removal and other “hauling requirements,” the auditor general found. That’s a major part of its estimated $4 million budget.
City staff have agreed to implement the recommendation for the 2013/2014 winter season, it said in a news release issued following the auditor general’s report.
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