Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Finance Administration topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Hazel Park board approves financial authorizations, contracts and administrative designations
Summary
On Jan. 6 the Hazel Park Board approved a package of business and finance actions: legal counsel and auditor designations, bank accounts and signers, authorized investment/wire signatories, insurance carriers, architects and contractor designations, and amended credit-card authorizations.
The Hazel Park Board of Education on Jan. 6 approved multiple business-organization and finance items, including designation of outside counsel, bank-account signers, persons authorized for investments and wire transfers, official newspapers for district publications, insurance carriers and auditors.
On motions brought under the business and organizational section of the agenda, trustees approved a slate of law firms to serve as district legal counsel; the board accepted the addition of two firms discussed during the meeting. Trustees also authorized establishment of bank accounts and named authorized signers, and approved the list of persons permitted to make investments and wire transfers in district accounts.
The board approved naming C&G Newspapers (CNG) and Open Press as the district’s official newspapers for public notices and authorized the summer and winter tax collection procedures used with municipal partners. Trustees designated the executive assistant to the superintendent, Jamie Buco, as the person responsible for implementing Open Meetings Act public-notice requirements.
The board approved designation of property-liability and workers’-compensation insurance carriers and authorized UHY LLP as the district’s auditor for the current year; trustees noted that a separate review of the audit would be possible in the future. The board also designated three architectural firms as architects of record and designated Clark Construction as a general contractor of record for 2025 projects.
On policies governing contracting and signing authority, trustees debated and amended language about which employment and third-party contracts require board signatures. The board agreed to add the conjunction “and” to the master employee contract section, an amendment the board approved during the meeting.
The district’s authorization for use of credit and debit cards was revised in discussion: trustees removed a clause allowing signatures “other than designated by the superintendent” and amended the approved card users list to specifically authorize district leaders for holiday-basket purchases (October–December) and to require board approval before adding any other cardholders. The board discussed controls such as posting card transaction invoices and bringing contracts to committee-of-the-whole prior to signatures.
Several motions were approved by voice vote; some were recorded with roll-call tallies. Where recorded in open discussion, the board reported a 4–3 vote for secretary. Other motion outcomes were announced as carried or motion passes and will be recorded in the official minutes. Trustees directed staff to provide additional documentation — including job/committee descriptions, bank-account balances and sample contract documents — at upcoming meetings and committee-of-the-whole sessions so members can review responsibilities and financial reconciliations.
Votes at a glance - Designation of district legal counsel — approved (motion carried). Firms added were described in discussion as handling general school law, bond/finance matters and workers’ compensation; board asked that firm responsibilities be clarified in the minutes if members want that detail recorded. - Establishment of bank accounts and authorized signers — approved (motion carried). Board asked for reconciliations and balances as of Dec. 31, 2024, at a future meeting. - Persons authorized to make investments — approved (motion carried). - Persons authorized to make wire transfers — approved (motion carried). - Persons authorized to enter into commercial card and custodial agreements — approved (motion carried). - Persons authorized to sign for Hazel Park Schools — approved (motion carried). - Master employee contracts (policy language) — amended to add the word “and” to clause a; amendment approved. - Designation of newspapers for official publications — CNG and Open Press approved (motion carried). - Designation of Summer/Winter tax collection process — approved (motion carried). - Designation of person for Open Meetings Act notice (Jamie Buco, executive assistant) — approved (motion carried). - Designation of property liability and workers’ compensation carriers — approved (motion carried). - Designation of auditors (UHY LLP) for the current audit year — approved (motion carried). - Designation of architects of record (three firms) — approved (motion carried). - Designation of general contractor of record (Clark Construction) — approved (motion carried). - Credit/debit card authorized users and related language — amended and approved (motion carried); motion authorized holiday-basket card use and requires board approval for any additional cardholders.
Board members asked administration to bring additional details — account balances, reconciliations, contract examples and written job descriptions for committee liaisons — to future committee and board meetings for review. The district staff said they will upload contracts and provide access to the drive and present documentation in committee-of-the-whole sessions as requested.
