Mayor: bank alerted city to attempted check fraud; council debates WEX card, debit card and vendor accounts

The mayor (Speaker 1) told the council the city's bank contacted staff after discovering a set of checks tied to the general fund had been compromised. "There was a check that was ... and somehow it didn't make it to WEX ... it got into somebody's little hand," Speaker 1 said, and added that the bank identified about $25,000 in checks that had been in process and issued a new account number while monitoring the old account.

Council members asked follow-up questions about when the activity occurred and whether the bank could provide surveillance or transaction evidence. Speaker 3 suggested the timing of the attempted cashing coincided with recent inquiries and requested invoices and documentation from finance staff.

Separately, the meeting recorded extensive discussion about municipal purchasing controls: the city has a temporary debit card and is deploying purchasing cards (P-cards) for departments, while the street department had a monthly purchasing arrangement with "North Jackson Food Mart" that some members questioned. Speaker 3 raised concerns about whether receipts show fuel purchases or other items and whether the account had clear limits. There was also discussion of WEX fuel cards and which employees in the street department can use those accounts.

The mayor said the finance administrator put controls in place, that two WEX cards were expected for equipment, and that the city had left $25,000 in the old account to cover outstanding checks while the bank monitors activity. Council members said they will review invoices and bank statements at the next work session.

No formal audit finding or vote to authorize external investigation was recorded at the meeting; council members asked staff to provide documentation and to include purchasing controls on the work session agenda.