Covenant of municipal auditors municipalities of Gemert-Bakel and Laarbeek

The undersigned: the municipality of Gemert-Bakel; the municipality of Laarbeek;
Hereinafter referred to as "the municipalities";
Whereas the municipal council of Gemert - Bakel and the municipal council of
Laarbeek have decided to establish a joint audit office;

Agree the following in view of the Municipal Law;

Resolve to enter into the covenant joint audit chamber municipalities of Gemert-Bakel and Laarbeek which reads as follows:

Article 1 Joint Audit Office

1. There is a joint audit office for both municipalities.
2. The establishment of the joint court of auditors shall be done by
   ordinance, which is adopted by the municipal councils of each municipality.
   adopted. This ordinance is referred to as the
   common court of auditors Gemert-Bakel - Laarbeek 2023, hereinafter referred to as
   hereinafter referred to as the ordinance.
3. Repeal or amendment of the ordinance shall be made by unanimous resolution of
   the municipal councils,
4. The joint court of auditors performs for the municipalities the tasks
   as contained in the regulation.

Article 2 Directional Group

1. There is a steering committee for the court of auditors.
2. The steering committee is an intermunicipal advisory body, consisting of at least
   at least 2 members from each council of the municipalities, supported by one of the
   council clerks.
3. The chairmanship of the steering committee rotates among the municipalities, unless
   the members mutually agree otherwise. This also applies to the
   support from the clerks' offices.
4.  
   1. The direction group is in charge of preparing the (re)appointment, temporary suspension and dismissal of the members of the Court of Audit as well as preparing and conducting the (interim) evaluation of the cooperation, in support of the councils of the municipalities,
   2. At the request of the joint court of auditors, the
      Court of Audit shall compile a rough list of possible research topics as submitted from the municipal councils, after which the direction group shall submit the rough list to the Court of Audit with the recommendation to the committee to select from it the topics on which the committee shall focus its work, The Court of Audit shall then adopt its research plan, stating reasons.
   3. The Direction Group, on behalf of the relevant City Council or on behalf of the Councils, shall request interim amendments to the Annual Plan of the Joint Audit Chamber in the event that the situation referred to in Article B, paragraph 4 of this Covenant arises.
   4. The steering committee may also be called upon by both the councils and the court of auditors to
      for support on other matters concerning the Court of Audit.
   5. The steering committee shall meet at least once every six months with the
      President of the Court of Audit.

Article 3 Composition of the Joint Audit Office

1. The joint court of auditors shall consist of at least three external members, including the chairman, appointed by unanimous decision by the
   municipal councils are appointed, on the recommendation of the Direction Group.
2. Recruitment and selection of the chairman and other members of the
   Joint Audit Chamber shall be done by the Direction Group.
3. Appointment of members shall be for a period of six years.
4. Members may be reappointed once for a period of six years upon nomination by the Direction Group.
5. Prior to any interim appointments, the direction group shall consult
   consults with the court of auditors.

Article 4 Dismissal and inactivity

1. A member of the Joint Audit Chamber shall be removed by unanimous resolution of the councils of the municipalities.
2. If one of the councils of the municipalities, pursuant to Article 6 of the
   Ordinance makes a resignation decision, the other municipal council shall in
   principle makes a unanimous decision.
3. Suspension of a member of the Court of Auditors, termination or extension of
   extension of inactivity, shall be made by unanimous resolution of the
   councils of the municipalities.
4. The resignation or suspension of the president and the members of the
   members of the Court of Audit shall not be made until it has been discussed in the Direction Group.
   has been consulted.

Article 5 Compensation for work of members of the Court of Auditors

1. Members receive compensation for their work for the
   Court of Audit.
2. The fee is €275.00 per month for the chairman and €225.00 per month for the other members.
3. An allowance of €75.00 per hour is granted for the performance of research by one or more members of the Court of Audit itself, for each hour actually used.
4. The fees mentioned in paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be charged to the budget of the Court of Audit.
5. Travel expenses are also reimbursed according to the standard generally applicable to the municipality for this purpose.
6. The compensation mentioned in the second paragraph and third paragraph shall be indexed annually as of 1
   indexed with the percentage that is used for the
   indexation of remunerations for council and committee members as referred to in the
   Rechtspositiebesluit decentrale politieke ambtsdragers.
7. The fees in this article may be adjusted if the councils of the
   participating municipalities unanimously decide to do so.

Article 6 Oath or promise

The chairman and the members of the committee take the oath or promise as
referred to in section 81m, paragraph 2 of the Municipalities Act, in a public meeting of the Gemert-Bakel Municipal Council.

Article 7 Secretariat

1. The official secretariat of both the Court of Audit and the Regiegroep
   will be provided by the registries of the participating municipalities. By means of a rotation system, each registry will provide the official secretariat for either the committee or the direction group.
2. The clerk of the municipality where the official secretariat is invested,
   acts during that period as the contact point for all matters concerning the
   Court of Audit and the Direction Group, respectively.

Article 8 Research plan

1. By October 1 of each year, the committee shall present a research plan indicating which topics are eligible for investigation or Quick scan for the then upcoming calendar year, At least one investigation shall be conducted for each municipality separately each year plus one investigation for the participating municipalities collectively.
2. Before the committee presents its investigation plan, it gives the
   councils through the direction group the opportunity to indicate wishes
   regarding the investigations or Quick
   scans.
3. In the draft research plan, the court of auditors explains the reasons
   how it arrived at the research plan.
4. If the need of one or all municipalities for research on a
   particular topic, current circumstances change such that
   full implementation of the research plan is undesirable and instead
   instead, research on an entirely new topic is current and desired,
   at the request of the Steering Committee, the Chamber of Audit may decide to change the subject selection
   the topic selection and the research plan.
5. At the request of an individual participating municipality, the Court of Audit may conduct more studies and/or Quick scans in addition to the research plan, The Court of Audit shall submit a quotation to the requesting municipality for this purpose. The National Audit Office decides which topics will be investigated.
6. The Court of Audit may seek the assistance of experts in the course of conducting a specific
   investigation or Quick scan to be assisted by experts. The costs of
   expert assistance shall be charged to the budget made available to the
   budget made available to the court of auditors by the municipality concerned.

Article 9 Budget and cost sharing

1. The municipal councils provide the court of auditors with an annual budget of
   of € 1.00 per inhabitant, according to the expected number of inhabitants on 1
   January of the fiscal year in question. This contribution is paid annually
   invoiced to the municipality where the secretariat of the
   the secretariat of the committee in that service year.
2. The implementation costs of both the committee and the direction group shall be borne
   from the budget referred to above in paragraph 1.
3. The contribution based on €1.00 per resident will only be indexed or
   adjusted if the municipal councils unanimously decide to do so,
4. Budget management rests with the municipality and the registry where that service year
   the secretariat of the commission.
5. Based on the management performed, an account result follows which is exchanged with the
   municipality concerned.

Article 1O Evaluation

The committee is evaluated on the initiative of the direction group.

Article 11 Validity period

1. This covenant shall take effect the day after its publication, shall operate
   back to 1 March2023 and is entered into for an indefinite period of time
2. The municipalities shall guarantee during the term of this covenant their
   contribution referred to in Article 9 of this Covenant.

Article 12 Amendment, termination and accession

1. Interim modification of this covenant is possible only if all
   municipalities agree to the proposed amendment.
2. The covenant may be terminated by any of the municipalities with
   observance of a notice period of at least one calendar year.
3. Termination of the covenant shall be effected by written notice of termination by
   the council of the outgoing municipality, based on a resolution of the
   respective municipal council.
4. Accession of another municipality shall be by unanimous decision of the councils. In such case, this covenant shall terminate and a new covenant shall be
   drawn up.

This covenant may be cited as Convenant Joint Audit Chamber Municipalities of Gemert-Bakel and Laarbeek 2023.

Thus adopted at the meeting of April 10, 2025 and amended by resolution of April 10, 2025,
The council of the municipality of Gemert-Bakel,

Adopted at the meeting of March 20, 2025 and amended by resolution of March 20, 2025,