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Mayor asks staff, legal to review energy-rebate audit and applications; attorney says formal direction needs agenda item
Summary
Following an additional audit triggered by charges filed related to an energy-conservation rebate program, council members sought clarity on whether staff should allow applicants to correct flawed forms; the mayor asked for a prompt staff and city-attorney review and, per the city attorney, the council must agendize any formal direction to staff.
Council held an extended discussion about an additional audit of the city’s energy-conservation rebate program after finance staff said auditors performed extra testing when the city reported that charges had been filed.
Finance staff told council the added testing cost the city a little over $9,000 and was triggered when staff notified auditors of subsequent events and charges. Councilmembers asked whether staff should accept corrected applications from residents whose rebate submissions included errors and whether staff or applicants bear responsibility for false or fraudulent information.
Mayor Jim Mosby requested that the city attorney and department staff analyze the rebate applications, allow applicants to cure errors where appropriate, and return to council with an ASAP report; he also asked staff to consider third-party review if needed. City Attorney Karen Hellenstein said the council could not, at that moment, give the precise investigatory direction without placing the request on a future agenda; she recommended the mayor’s request be formalized as an agenda item so that the council could direct the scope of any review.
Council emphasized the need to remove appearances of impropriety and to clarify processes so residents receive consistent treatment. Staff described changes already made to tighten internal-review procedures and said some process modifications predated the additional audit.
What’s next: Staff and the city attorney will draft an agenda item that specifies the investigation's scope, potential remedies for defective applications, and whether an independent third party should be engaged; the council asked for that to return quickly for review.
