Board told trust funds were withdrawn without approval for 2016–2025; retroactive approval to be requested

City staff told trustees on Nov. 13 that records show trust funds were used in successive years without formal board approval and that staff will seek retroactive trustee authorization.

Robert said board records show a 2014 approval to use trust funds as a one‑time authorization for 2015, but subsequent years (2016–2025) include withdrawals that lack documentary board approval. "As a result, that means that in the next couple of months, probably in January, we will need to come back to this board to request retroactive approval for all of those items that were pulled from the trust that did not actually have board approval," Robert said.

Why it matters: retroactive approval could affect trust accounting and future spending authority. Trustees asked for an amount estimate; staff said they have not yet completed the research and will present a breakdown showing where the error occurred and proposed steps to prevent recurrence.

Next steps: staff will prepare a presentation for trustees in January that identifies the amounts withdrawn, the years affected (2016–2025) and the administrative errors that led to the missing approvals. Trustees flagged the issue for follow up but did not vote on retroactive authorization at the Nov. 13 meeting.

At the start of the meeting trustees approved the previous meeting minutes 4–0 (Trustee John Schwab absent).