Overspending In Vancouver: Expensive Office Furniture For Remote City Workers

With a new mayor set to take office in Vancouver, along with an ABC party majority, Vancouverites are hopeful for leadership that is financially responsible.

Excessive spending was seen by governments in 2020, in large part due to stimulus aid, meanwhile, citizens were notoriously saving at a time of uncertainty. We dove into Mayor Kennedy Stewart’s rampant discretionary expenses in a previous article. Since then, we found further evidence of excessive spending by city hall.

Having a glance into the City of Vancouver’s Statement of Financial Information for the same year, a glaring amount surfaced in the ‘Payments to Suppliers of Goods and Services’ section.

A Freedom of Information request submitted and obtained by Coastal Front found that the city paid $792,832 to Heritage Office Furnishings Ltd. The B.C.-based furniture company aims to “create and deliver inspiring spaces everywhere work happens.” What matters most here is the quantity and purpose of items paid for with the money.

High-Priced Expenses

First, $18,290 was spent for the “removal of excess furniture” at West Annex, also known as the Development and Building Services Centre. $170,026 was devoted to 57 workstations, 15 tables for various room sizes and 26 meeting chairs.

Next, $19,940 was allocated towards “six storage towers, six sit stand workstations, six cable baskets for cord management, four returns, four packages of legs for work surfaces.”

Unorganized Finances

We probed the city to elaborate on a $25,591 purchase of 32 - 2019 Stand-Sit Desks, however, the city stated it did not have a match to the total of this purchase. The city continued that this order “would have exceeded $25,591.” 

Some of the funds paid to Heritage Office Furnishings were taken from the 2019-2022 Capital Plan, however, where exactly those funds were allocated is not known.  

Furniture For an Empty Office?

After speaking with a Vancouver City Hall employee, Coastal Front was informed that there are an undisclosed number of city employees that work fully remote or in a hybrid model.

An argument can be made for spending on quality furniture for workers in the office. That said, is this an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars when there are percentages of city employees working fully remote or hybrid as of October 2022?

With Ken Sim and ABC Vancouver now at the helm, only time will tell if taxpayer dollars will continue to be spent on unnecessary expenditures.