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City Council Regular Meeting — 08/23/04 <br />DRAFT Minutes - Page 13 <br />staff. Councilmember Schroeder concurred with staff s <br />interpretation of the internal controls available through use of <br />purchasing cards; and opined that the Council needed to trust that <br />staff was operating within their budget. <br />City Manager Beets noted that the food purchases would be <br />identified by staff, if specific lien items were identified; but <br />opined that the purchases would have been for programs or <br />events, and were not for staff, and further opined that if food <br />wasn't provided for some programs and/or events, volunteer <br />ranks would diminish. <br />Councilmember Ihlan observed that, when asked to review <br />expenditures that have already been expended, she concurred <br />with Councilmember Kough regarding the difficulty in tracking <br />expenses in certain categories. Councilmember Ihlan requested <br />that Mr. Miller review the differences between credit cards and <br />purchasing cards. <br />Mr. Miller noted that the City had been advocating the use of <br />City Purchasing Cards not credit cards — over the last ten years to <br />take advantage of emerging purchasing technologies. Mr. Miller <br />advised that the purchasing cards worked similar to an individual <br />credit card, with a distinct advantage — better internal purchasing <br />controls, that allowed the City to restrict applicable vendors, type <br />of supply or material purchased, and a daily, weekly, and <br />monthly accounting of those purchases; in addition to allowing <br />quicker accounting of purchases in case there was any fraud <br />evidenced. Mr. Miller noted that a purchasing card allowed far <br />greater controls than a corporate credit card, and allowed the <br />City to restrict purchases, based on the roles and responsibility <br />level of employees doing the purchasing; and were used <br />primarily for day-to-day supply purchases and allowed for <br />spending limits. Mr. Miller opined that the City was saving <br />literally thousands of dollars annually through reduced paper <br />supply expenses (issuing checks, use of envelopes, postage, and <br />staff time) and noted that many of the purchases were made via <br />the Internet, which reduced staff travel time and mileage as well. <br />Further discussion ensued regarding the City Council's policy on <br />expenditures at volunteer events and whether adequate limits <br />