COUNCIL EXPENSE AND CARRY FORWARD ACCOUNTS - FEBRUARY 2024
Council Expense and Carry Forward Accounts
Released February 2024 Download full report here Download the Highlights Page here We undertook this audit to assess compliance of council expenses and donations with city charter and code provisions because council members’ transactions undergo less scrutiny than those of executive branch departments. Our recommendations to the Council Director is to enforce segregation of duties in all financial transactions, develop a policy that defines expenditure approvals, develop a process for documenting invoices with sufficient detail to describe public purpose, provide ongoing training on procurement code requirements, develop written procedures for tracking computer equipment, develop procedures for making donations, work with the Department of Law to define public good, develop a policy to clearly specify the allow expenses, inform council members that they are required by code to disclose affiliations, prepare for City Council consideration an amendment of city code to allow the practice of transferring the carry forward balances from the outgoing to incoming council member. |
We found:
- City Council members could improve controls over spending by developing policies and procedures, including documenting council member approval of expenditures.
- Council members could also better safeguard assets and provide greater transparency by including descriptions on invoices with sufficient detail.
- City code provides for council members to make donations that benefit the public good but does not provide a definition of the term, so council members have discretion in how they interpret public good and associated donations.
- City Code Section 2-39 states that council members should transfer any unspent carry forward funds to the general fund when leaving office.