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Rolla audit committee considers tighter controls on council training budget and reimbursement rules
Summary
At its May 18 meeting the Rolla City Council Audit Committee discussed setting per-official training allocations, requiring approved excuses for nonrefundable training costs, and increasing the combined training-and-meetings budget from about $7,000 to roughly $13,000; staff were tasked to draft policy guidelines.
The Rolla City Council Audit Committee discussed tightening controls on elected officials’ training and meeting expenditures at a meeting on May 18, 2026, at Rolla City Hall. Committee members examined options including a training schedule, per-official allocations and reimbursement rules for nonrefundable charges.
Finance Director Steffanie Rogers told the committee the current combined budget for training and meetings is about $7,000 and that "a more realistic amount would be around $13,000 a year to budget." Rogers also said a tracking system "could easily be created through project accounting." The committee discussed using those tools to improve transparency and budget forecasting.
Committee members said it was preferable to provide initial training early in an elected official’s term. They debated whether the city should cover a spouse’s banquet attendance; members voiced that the benefit was nice but that most were indifferent to removing it, and no final decision was reached.
City Administrator Keith Riesberg was directed to work with City Clerk Lorri Powell and Finance Director Steffanie Rogers to outline guidelines for budgeting council training and to present how the policy would be implemented. The committee did not adopt a final policy at the meeting.
Members also noted that field work for the city’s 2025 audit will begin Tuesday. The committee scheduled its next meeting for Monday, June 1 at 5:30 p.m. Mayor Lister B. Florence Jr. adjourned the meeting at 6:02 p.m.
