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Council approves measures for fiscal transparency; CFO to deliver monthly reports and fiscal impact statements
Summary
The council adopted two resolutions aimed at fiscal transparency—R‑2603 requiring fiscal impact statements for budget-related ordinances and R‑2604 requiring monthly financial reports generated from the city’s accounting system; council and finance staff debated capacity and staffing needs to implement the policies.
On Sept. 8 the Seat Pleasant City Council adopted two separate resolutions intended to improve financial transparency and council oversight.
Resolution R‑2603 requires the city’s chief financial officer to prepare a fiscal impact statement to accompany each budget adoption and budget amendment ordinance brought before the council. The resolution text cites the City Charter (Article 5 and Article 8 provisions) to justify written financial oversight. Council members debated where responsibility for detailed fiscal impact analysis properly should sit. The chief financial officer told the council the department lacks dedicated budget/management analyst capacity and that a separate Office of Budget and Management or a budget analyst position is the standard in other governments for producing comprehensive fiscal impact statements. The council adopted R‑2603 by a 5–1 vote.
Resolution R‑2604 requires the chief financial officer to submit a package of monthly financial documents to the council. The resolution specifies reports the finance department must produce from the city’s automated accounting system: a balance sheet, a budget‑vs‑actual schedule of revenues and expenditures (monthly and year‑to‑date), a monthly purchase requisition register, and a cash disbursement/check register. The resolution directs that reports be generated directly from the automated financial system, transmitted by the end of the month following the reporting period, and be on a fiscal year (July 1–June 30) basis. The council amended the budget‑vs‑actual section at the meeting to require a year‑to‑date comparison to the same period in the prior fiscal year; the amended resolution passed unanimously.
Finance staff raised implementation questions, telling the council the raw reports can be produced from the current systems but that producing the requested formats and explanatory material will require staff time. The chief financial officer urged the council to consider hiring a budget/management analyst or otherwise providing resources to prepare impact statements and expanded reporting.
Council members said they supported the transparency measures and asked staff to work with the Finance Department to ensure the reports can be generated automatically from the new accounting system planned for procurement. Staff agreed to return to the council with timing and format details for the monthly reporting package.
