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Accounts committee flags vague invoice descriptions and several high-cost warrants
Summary
Councillors pressed the auditor for clearer PO and invoice descriptions after reviewing 1,721 line items totaling $10.9M; notable flags included a $391,574 special-education payment to Latham Centers, $2.25M year-to-date to WB Mason, and multiple small vendor entries that could be consolidated.
Chair Wynn Farwell told the committee the warrant packet covered 1,721 line items and about $10,897,440 in payments. "He sent us 1,721 line items... and, I guess in the aggregate, a $10,897,440 payment," Farwell said, introducing a detailed line-item review.
Members questioned multiple entries with minimal descriptions, pressing for PO numbers and supporting documentation. Examples discussed included police-detail charges routed through the tax collector rather than the police department, home/hospital tutoring entries labeled merely as "services," an asbestos remediation invoice lacking a building address, and a $391,574 payment to Latham Centers for special-education services where councilors asked how many students were covered. Council members urged the auditor and school-side staff to require more granular PO/invoice detail and consider bulk purchasing to reduce processing time.
