06-12-2002 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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I~.I MEMORANDUM TO: Audit Committee 4~ v-r FROM: Cynthia Alexander, Director of Finance` Michael Dolby, Assistant Finance Director DATE: July 19, 2002 RE: Review of Public Information Requests Related to Credit Cards On Monday, June 10, 2002, a citizen addressed City Council concerning certain alleged irregularities in our Internal Controls regarding credit cards, followed by a letter to the editor in the Bayshore Sun on Wednesday, June 12, 2002. As a result of these public. and published comments, and subsequent requests for records under the Texas Public Information Act, we elected to perform a cursory review of credit card transactions. We did not perform an audit, nor did we perform any analytical procedures. We sampled credit card transactions to determine if the transaction contained proper documentation and noted if the transaction appeared to conform to usual city business expenditures. The documents used in this review were obtained from the City's Document Imaging System and are the same documents released to the above-referenced requestors of Public Information. Our review does not give an opinion regarding the validity of expenditures because the Finance Department does not set purchasing policies; consequently, we are only reporting that certain transactions appear questionable. The City of La Porte currently has a relationship with two credit card companies: American Express and Visa. There currently exists no written policy regarding the use of city issued credit cards; consequently, the City Manager has directed that a policy tie developed. The management and administration of the American Express Card Program lies with the City Manager's office and is not under the auspices of the Finance Department. There are four city issued American Express cards which are held by the Mayor, City Manager, Assistant City Manager and Police Chief. Visa credit cards are held by the City Manager, City Secretary and Director of Finance; and, they are each responsible for the prudent management of these cards. The credit card holders are Executive Level employees with direct budgetary responsibilities, and, they should understand that these cards are to be used for the purposes of conducting official city business. During our compilation and review of the requested records, we found transactions that could appear to be questionable to the general public. Attached are the results of our review. We are prepared to answer any questions you may have.