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Haslet park board tables approval of community-park expense report pending itemized breakdown
Summary
Park board members paused approval of a consent agenda expense line after questioning a $34,008.60 community-park project charge and asked staff to provide an itemized billing before the board acts.
The Haslet Park Board on April 9 voted to table approval of a consent-agenda expense item after members asked for an itemized breakdown of a $34,008.60 charge listed as “community park project.”
Board members said the amount and a cumulative total of $55,000 in recent months required more detail before they could approve the monthly financial statements. A board member moved to table Consent Agenda item No. 4 until staff provided a line-by-line accounting; another board member seconded the motion and the motion carried. The board did not record a roll-call vote count in the meeting transcript.
Why it matters: board members said large, lump-sum charges reduce transparency for the public and for the board’s routine financial oversight. Members asked for vendor-level and task-level detail so they could confirm what the city had paid and whether invoices matched approved projects.
City staff told the board they would prepare the requested detail. “What we’ll do is we’ll gather that report together and email it to the board,” a city staff member said during the discussion.
Board questions focused on whether the $34,008.60 amount reflected engineering, construction activity, or vendor services tied to specific subprojects — for example work on a trail (TAP trail) versus memorial-garden tasks or pavilion foundations. A board member asked whether the charge represented a single-month invoice or part of cumulative billings; staff confirmed the $34,008.60 appeared as a single monthly billing, and the cumulative total across months was approximately $55,000.
Board members raised a hypothetical about an obviously inappropriate line item (a $10,000 personal vehicle purchase) to clarify procedure if an improper charge appeared. A city staff member advised that the park board should forward disputed items to staff for review and, if necessary, staff would consult the finance director.
Next steps: staff will compile and email an itemized report showing the vendors and services that made up the $34,008.60 community-park project line. The board’s approval of the consent agenda item is tabled to the next meeting pending that information.
Ending: The board’s request for more detailed billing will appear as part of the materials for the next meeting; until then, the consent-agenda line remains tabled.
