Rules tightened for city councillors’ credit cards

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This article was published 05/10/2017 (2981 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Councillors have revised their spending rules to prohibit the use of city hall-issued credit cards for personal expenses.

Councillors on the governance committee Thursday approved a series of changes to the ward allowance bylaw to tighten controls on their personal spending, in the fallout from one of their own ringing up $57,000 in personal purchases.

Councillors will no longer be permitted to use their city hall cards for personal expenses and if they inadvertently do so, they have 15 days to repay it. Failure to comply with the new rules will mean an automatic suspension of the cards.

“The governance committee is extremely committed to ensuring transparency and accountability,” said Coun. Devi Sharma (Old Kildonan), chairwoman of the committee and council Speaker. “Improving the (councillor ward allowance) policy, which controls how elected officials expend funds, is an effective strategy to ensure this accountability.” 

The changes to the councillors’ spending rules were prompted by recommendations to the committee from the city auditor in July after concerns were raised with how Coun. Jason Schreyer (Elmwood-East Kildonan) had been using his card.  They are issued to councillors to cover daily expenses associated with running their offices and consulting with constituents.

Schreyer’s card had been suspended last October after filing his expense late for the fourth time in 2016. The city clerk’s office said Schreyer had rung up 600 personal expenses over 2015 and 2016, totalling $57,000, and was repeatedly late in repaying the funds. He subsequently repaid the entire amount.

Schreyer said he wasn’t aware he couldn’t use the card for personal expenses and said he had been assured by the clerk’s staff that timing of reimbursement wasn’t a concern.

Other spending rules approved by the committee:

• Councillors must sign an agreement for use of city hall-issued credit card annually.
• Councillors must repay personal expenses “immediately” after they become aware of them.
• The clerk’s office must suspend a councillor’s card if the councillor knowingly uses it for personal purchases or fails to repay a purchase within 15 days of being requested.
• The card will also be suspended if supporting expense documents are not filed within two months of the date of the card statement.
• The clerk’s office must notify the governance committee if a councillor repeatedly uses the card for personal charges.

In other business, the committee also approved changes to council’s procedures bylaw which would allow meetings of council in 2018 and going forward to occur on any day of the week, rather than the traditional Wednesday meetings.

The change is recommended by the City Clerk’s staff, which claims that council’s recent decision to require all agendas to be published four business days before a meeting – the current publishing schedule is 96 hours before a meeting – doesn’t leave civic staff with enough time to vet and prepare reports.

The administration said department staff will have to submit their reports earlier to comply with the new publishing schedule, and other committee days could also be switched.

An administrative report suggested council – which has met on Wednesdays since late 1972 – could move to Thursdays.

Sharma said she’s still considering the options presented by the administration, adding the meeting calendar will likely be set by the committee in November following consultations with all members of council.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca