2026-04-23 WS, LBAE, & CC Packet

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(4tery w•fe I880,Uairr,Streei, Cente iffe,-%EV5503S ,F—oaffished1857 651.423.3232 or FaC, 651.429-8629 Date: April 23, 2026 To: Honorable Mayor and City Council Through: Athanasia Lewis, City Administrator From: Bruce DeJong, Finance Director Subject: Payment of Claims during Gaps between Council Meetings The City Council has the ability under MN Statute Minn. Stat. § 412.271, subd. 8 to delegate its authority to pay certain claims. This authority may be given by the council to a city administrative official. City administrative officials include a city administrator or finance director. To delegate this authority, a city must do the following: Adopt a resolution. Cities delegating authority to pay claims must adopt a resolution specifying the type of claims to be paid and the administrative official to whom this authority is granted. Establish internal accounting and administrative control procedures. These procedures must ensure the proper disbursement of public funds. They must include frequent periodic council review of the administrative official's actions. When money is disbursed under these procedures, a list of expenditures must be submitted for the council's information at the next meeting. Prepare annual audited financial statements. Cities delegating authority, as described here, must also prepare annual audited financial statements. Moreover, these statements must be certified by an independent public accountant or the state auditor. Staff propose that the City Council delegate the authority to pay regularly recurring claims to the City Administrator whenever a gap of more than two weeks exists between city council meetings. This will allow for claims to be paid in a timely manner throughout the year, not just limited to November and December when we typically have only one meeting per month or when meetings are cancelled due to weather, lack of a quorum, or lack of agenda items. This change is proposed because the timing between meetings becomes difficult for vendors to understand and for city staff to get bills paid during the statutory time limit. We are required to pay bills within 35 days. The timeframe becomes challenging when we have three weeks between meetings.