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Yankton commissioners ask for public review after change to how credit‑card purchases are published
Summary
Commissioner Hanoff pressed the commission to put a new policy on the public agenda after staff began summarizing P‑card transactions rather than publishing every item in the official newspaper; staff said the change reduces publication costs and full details remain in the meeting packet online.
Commissioner Hanoff pressed the Yankton Board of City Commissioners on July 22 to put a new policy about publishing credit‑card (P‑card) transactions on the agenda for a public vote, saying recent changes reduce long‑standing transparency.
Hanoff said he objected to the way the minutes and published claims reflected an earlier motion to pay bills and urged the commission to debate and vote on the new publication approach in a public meeting. "I have issues with that in terms of transparency," Hanoff said, and asked that the item be placed "on our next agenda and voted on by the board after discussion at a public meeting with input from the public and commissioners."
City staffer Lisa explained the practical change: instead of listing every P‑card transaction in the designated newspaper, the city will publish the credit‑card statement summary (using BMO Spend Dynamics) and only list purchases over $2,000 in the public notice, while including more detailed transaction information in the meeting packet. "So instead of listing all of those transactions, we did BMO Spend Dynamics and the amount and we only listed the purchases over 2,000," Lisa said, adding the change reduced the number of published items from about 200 to roughly 10 to save on publication costs.
Commissioners discussed options for addressing the issue; one commissioner suggested a work session but the body agreed to place a memo and formal discussion on the next regular agenda (anticipated at the first August meeting). Mayor Pro Tem Mosher cast the aye votes when the minutes were approved; the minutes ultimately passed with one recorded nay from Commissioner Hanoff.
City staff provided several numbers during the exchange: staff said the grouped payment to the credit company represented roughly $101,000 and that the smaller set of listed purchases (those over $2,000) totaled about $38,000 or roughly 38% of the statement. Staff also cited meeting publication costs (average price per meeting rising from about $195 in 2020 to $231 in 2023) as a reason to reduce newspaper line items and pointed to practices discussed at the SDML finance officer conference.
What happens next: the commission instructed staff to prepare a memo outlining the options and to place the matter on an upcoming agenda so commissioners and the public can consider whether to revert to full transaction publication, adopt the summary approach, or choose another compromise.
