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Yankton commission unanimously votes to publish individual P‑card transactions in minutes
Summary
After debate about transparency, accessibility and cost, the commission approved Commissioner Hanoff's motion requiring the city finance officer to list all city purchases, including P‑card transactions, in published meeting minutes; public commenters urged the change citing fraud risks and support for local journalism.
The Yankton City Commission voted unanimously to require the city finance officer to publish all city purchases, including procurement (P)‑card transactions, in the meeting minutes published in the local paper.
Commissioner Brian Hanoff moved the measure and Commissioner Brunick seconded it. Hanoff urged the commission to follow what he characterized as the plain language of state law, citing SDCL 9-18-1 and saying the statute "states the governing body of each municipality shall publish within 12 business days the minutes of each meeting of the governing body, including a detailed statement of all expenditures of money." He argued that reporting a single lump-sum payment to a credit-card company for hundreds of transactions is a "loophole" that reduces transparency and public confidence.
Lisa, the city's new finance officer, described the city's P‑card program and controls: cards are issued with department-head approval, employees receive training, receipts are uploaded to BMO Spend Dynamics, transactions are coded and require a second-level managerial approval, and finance performs a follow-up review of monthly statements. Lisa said the cards are typically used for supplies, small purchases and travel rather than capital expenditures and that how vendor descriptions appear in published lists depends in part on vendor interfaces.
Public commenters urged the change. Dennis Menke told commissioners to "do everything they can to make that as visible to everybody" and referenced a Nebraska Department of Roads audit that identified millions in alleged fraud to illustrate risks from insufficient oversight. Gary Wood also urged full publication and cited the legal requirement to detail transactions.
Commissioner Hanoff presented a rough cost estimate for publishing itemized claims in the newspaper—about $2,900 per year compared with an $81 million city budget—and framed the expense as a modest investment in local journalism and accountability. After discussion the commission took a roll-call vote; all members present voted "Aye," and the motion carried.
The new directive requires the finance officer to include itemized P‑card transactions in the claims/minutes published by the city; the commission did not amend P‑card controls at this meeting beyond the publishing requirement.
Authorities and statutes cited at the meeting were SDCL 9-18-1 (publication of minutes and expenditures) and SDCL 1-25-2 (statute cited later in the meeting for executive session authority).
