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Homewood council presses for clearer voucher and credit‑card oversight
Summary
Council members at pre‑council questioned voucher review and credit‑card transparency, noting bulk uniform purchases after the Oct. 1 fiscal year start and urging steps to reduce department credit cards and improve oversight.
At Homewood’s Dec. 8 pre‑council meeting, council members spent significant time reviewing the city’s voucher and purchasing processes, pressing staff on visibility for credit‑card charges and the frequency of uniform purchases.
Speaker 3 described the voucher-review routine: staff (Kelly, JJ, Beau) review invoices, pull vendor items for follow‑up, and send vouchers to council twice monthly. Council members noted that large uniform purchases are concentrated after the fiscal‑year budget is approved Oct. 1 and that vendors such as NAFCO, Galls and Ingram appear repeatedly. Speaker 3 said staff had reviewed vendors and pulled questions for follow‑up with department heads.
Several council members raised concerns about credit‑card oversight and the number of active cards. Speaker 7 said the city previously had about 37 credit cards and hoped to reduce that number; Speaker 7 argued that, as council, "we are the oversight committee, and we are responsible. And that's gotta be addressed, and we've gotta fix that." Staff explained the credit‑card process: statements are paid separately (First Horizon monthly), receipts are reconciled to statements, and the First Horizon payments do not appear in the vouchers packet reviewed at council.
Council members requested clearer access to backup documentation for purchases (including Amazon invoices that may appear generically as "Amazon") and indicated they will work with incoming staff (including the proposed hire) to tighten controls and consider centralized purchasing or other limits on cards.
