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Union commissioners agree to ban monetary donations from city funds
Summary
After staff consulted the city accountant and reviewed two draft policies, the City of Union Commission agreed to a policy that disallows monetary donations from city funds, approving the prohibition during the caucus.
The City of Union agreed at its July 21 caucus to adopt a request policy that prohibits monetary donations from city funds. CAO Amy Safran presented two drafts: one that would permit limited monetary donations (a $10,000 annual cap and up to $500 per recipient) and a second that barred monetary donations entirely.
Safran said the city's accountant, Ben Harrison, advised against allowing monetary donations, calling the practice poor stewardship of taxpayer dollars. Commissioners uniformly voiced opposition to the donation option. Commissioner Doug Bine said it would open the door to many requests, create oversight burdens and could look like poor public policy; Commissioner John Mefford said the money belongs to taxpayers and opposed using city funds for donations. Commissioner Kim Tuyn cited the professional input from the accountant and supported draft two. The commission agreed to proceed with the draft that prohibits monetary donations.
