Council reviews fraud-risk, cash-receipt and procurement policies; staff to refine wording and seek auditor review

Daniel Town staff presented three draft administrative policies July 7 to satisfy a fraud-risk assessment: a cash-receipt and deposit policy, a credit‑card policy and a procurement policy. The policies were prepared using templates recommended by the state auditor and were provided to council members for review.

Why it matters: The policies define how funds are received, recorded and deposited, set roles and responsibilities for adjustments to customer accounts and establish procurement procedures. Council members raised concerns that some template language did not match the town’s staffing and internal-control structure and asked for clarifications to avoid unintended changes to existing responsibilities.

Key discussion points: Council members said the cash-receipt policy’s phrase "entered into the accounting system as soon as possible" should specify a maximum number of days. Members also raised a concern that the clerk’s office should not make deposits into a separate bank account; deposits should go into the town’s account and the wording should reflect that. Another repeated concern: the person who collects cash (the water secretary) should not be the same person to make post-deposit adjustments; the council asked that changes to billing transactions be restricted to someone who does not receive cash, with the administrator or treasurer authorized to make adjustments after proper documentation.

Next steps: Council asked staff to amend the policy language to reflect the town’s operational structure (for example, specifying deposit timing and that deposits must be to the town's bank account), to run the revised drafts by the independent auditor and to bring updated policies back to the council for formal adoption at a future meeting.