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Finance committee presses for tighter procurement controls and clearer reporting
Summary
The Finance, Audit and Advisory Committee reviewed the town's procurement policy, flagged broad exemptions and repeated low-dollar purchases, and urged staff to adopt simple checklists, regular transparency reports and better Blackbaud recordkeeping to reduce risk and improve accountability.
The Finance, Audit and Advisory Committee spent the bulk of its meeting pressing staff and the town attorney for stronger checks and greater transparency in the town's procurement process.
Committee members said they remain concerned that the policy—s structure and numerous exemptions could allow repeated low-dollar purchases to evade oversight. "They can up to $24,999 at multiple times in intervals, which does kinda concern me," Committee member Lisa Murray said, arguing the cumulative effect of repeated purchases could bypass meaningful review. Members asked for a simple, department-level checklist and a short flowchart that would make the procurement steps clear to department heads.
Town attorney Jeffrey Kurtz said his review focuses on legal sufficiency, not on whether a business deal is advantageous. "Review for legal sufficiency has nothing to do with the business deal," Kurtz said, adding that the town attorney—s office typically reviews contract forms and that expenditures over $25,000 must be routed to the council unless an exemption or emergency applies. He also said contract administration practices vary by department and that many departments manage their own contracts.
Staff and the committee discussed the town—s financial system and records. Staff described Blackbaud as the town—s central repository for contracts and invoices and demonstrated a linked Power BI view of expenditures, but members reported difficulty finding attachments and invoices for specific vendor payments. "I've looked for many at times, and I have yet to I found maybe 1 or 2, but not all of them," one member said. Staff acknowledged gaps and said they are working to get missing invoices scanned and to update Power BI.
Members proposed concrete oversight steps: quarterly procurement activity reports to the council, a standardized contract-administration checklist, periodic internal or compliance audits, and random sampling of procurement files for adherence to policy. Committee members also raised a practical control: ensure the purchase-order module enforces purchase-order limits and captures an audit trail when entries are made or edited.
The group debated emergency purchases and how they are ratified. Staff said true emergencies (for example, debris cleanup after a storm) may require immediate action and later ratification by the council, but members warned that the emergency classification must not be used to bypass review.
The committee asked staff to produce a short list of recommended procurement-policy edits and an implementation plan that includes (a) a short operating checklist for department heads, (b) a monthly or quarterly transparency report tied to budget line items and (c) a proposal to tighten controls on cumulative vendor payments under the $25,000 threshold. The committee also requested a follow-up showing which invoices or attachments are missing from Blackbaud and when the Power BI will be updated.
The committee will forward its recommendations to the town council for consideration as part of its advisory role; staff said they will return with proposed language and any necessary system upgrades.
