Lowell updates Fixed Assets Policy to address intangibles and missing-asset reporting

City Accountant Layli Nichols presented a revised Fixed Assets Policy intended to replace the city's older GASB Statement 34-era policy and to incorporate subsequent GASB guidance on intangibles and special collections. The revisions address asset definition, valuation, capitalization and classification and add treatment for intangible assets and historical items noted in recent GASB updates.

Council and staff identified several substantive edits during review: designate the finance department to provide departments with lists of assets missing for at least one year (Section 15.1); add language allowing employees to report suspected theft directly to the mayor or a council representative if the city administrator is the subject of concern (Section 15.2); and move the phrase "if necessary" outside a parenthetical in Section 20.2 so the sentence stands clearly without the parenthetical. Council President Jimmy Murray and Councilor Tim Stratis raised the respective concerns and Nichols agreed to return revised language at the next meeting.