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<br />City Council Regular Meeting - OS/22/06 <br />Minutes - Page 16 <br /> <br />requested; and staff was doing a good job projecting annual <br />expenditures; and noted that the staff information provided to the <br />City Council on an interim basis could be relied upon to make <br />informed decisions. <br /> <br />Additional discussion included the employee recognition events; <br />City Attorney opinion versus the Attorney General's opinion and <br />ongoing discussions and perspectives and interpretations; and <br />fraud protection procedures and policies in place. <br /> <br />Councilmember Pust opined that the audit appeared to support <br />the City Council working on meeting their existing policies, <br />rather than spending substantial time re-examining them. <br /> <br />Mr. Eichten concurred with Councilmember Pust's <br />interpretation, opining that ongoing procedures were in place; <br />and were provided by the City Council to the City Manager and <br />to staff, as appropriate. <br /> <br />Further discussion included trends in rising public safety costs <br />over the last five years, and mostly related to personnel costs; <br />and contingency fund definitions, practices and ceilings. <br /> <br />Mr. Miller noted that a separate audit firm would be providing <br />comment on the City's overall credit ratings and reserve policies, <br />scheduled for the June 12, 2006 regular City Council meeting. <br /> <br />Councilmember Ihlan opined the need for further discussion <br />regarding the employee recognition issue; and the need for the <br />City Council to continue ongoing internal monitoring of controls <br />and anti-fraud policies, noting her preference to build them into <br />the City Council schedule. Councilmember Ihlan sought <br />suggestions from Mr. Eichten for ways to institutionalize those <br />controls. <br /> <br />Mr. Eichten noted that the best way was from the terminology <br />from the top (City Council) and their directives to the City <br />Manager, and thus staff; and the tone provided to staff. Mr. <br />Eichten opined that, from tonight's discussion, and interaction <br />during the audit, he felt confident that the City Council was <br />providing the proper tone to the organization. <br />