“Some expenditures, like the city buying flowers for sick or deceased relatives of city employees, or the city giving certain gifts to retiring city employees could be looked at as potential areas of abuse and need to be addressed in the policy. We need one set of standards for all departments.”
“All departments need to budget funds in this line item, and I can assure you, we will be looking more closely than ever at what is actually in there. If an auditor is looking for a finding, this is the first place he or she goes. There's also the public perception that needs to be considered. What is appropriate in the private sector isn't necessarily an allowable expenditure in the public sector.”
