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Committee presses Chester finance team on payment approvals and public access to disbursement packets
Summary
Officials described multi-level payment controls including director, procurement, CFO and receiver reviews for disbursements over $5,000; council asked the administration to publish the monthly disbursement packet with agenda materials and raised a specific question about a Pico Energy payment listed in the packet.
Council members spent part of the June 1 meeting probing internal controls and public transparency around payments.
CFO Richard Troutman said the city requires departmental review, procurement coordinator review, and that the CFO and receiver review items $5,000 and over. "There's three signatures on every payment," he said, and auditors test those approval processes.
A council member asked whether the monthly disbursement packet is published. Troutman said the packet is not currently posted with the agenda but that the city can place it on the website with future agendas. The member asked specifically about a payment to Pico Energy appearing in the packet on April 17; Troutman deferred to the chief and the receiver for invoice-level explanations.
Separately, the committee introduced the receiver's intern, who was initially introduced by a council member as "Zula" but who self-identified when speaking as "Dola," a rising junior at Spartmore College helping the receiver's office in finance. The discrepancy was noted during the meeting.
