The Templeton Advisory Committee voted Aug. 7 to recommend that the select board conduct an audit of town credit-card accounts and review the town's credit-card and purchasing policies.
Advisory Committee members raised concerns about several high-value credit-card entries that lacked immediate supporting documentation. "There's $88,000 on American Express and roughly $35,000 on Amazon Capital Services," Liz said, adding that the committee requested detailed breakdowns they had not received in time for the meeting.
Why it matters: The committee said limited paper trails and multiple merchant descriptions made it difficult to determine who had access to credit accounts, what purchases were charged, and whether purchases had been routed through appropriate purchasing channels.
The motion, as read on the record, asked the select board to audit the "number and use of town credit cards" and specifically to review American Express, Amazon Capital Services, Capital One and First Citizens Trust accounts, and to report who is using them and for what purpose. The committee discussed a policy approach that would limit credit-card use to emergencies and move routine purchases to established vendor accounts to preserve an auditable trail.
At the meeting the committee identified the need to know how many credit cards exist, who holds them, and whether purchases charged to vendor-like descriptions are correctly categorized in the accounting system. Jacqueline noted that some towns maintain a single municipal card under the town administrator; others issue cards to department heads. Committee members asked the select board to either run the audit or delegate it to an appropriate official (town administrator, certified purchasing officer or advisory committee).
Action: Motion to recommend an audit was seconded and approved; recorded votes were unanimous among members present. The committee requested that the select board compare credit-card activity to the town's purchasing policy and to provide the committee with supporting documentation if the select board delegates the audit.