Two new city ordinances will update the mayor’s expenditure cap, as well as clarify the duties of the Tooele City treasurer and finance director.
Tooele City Attorney Roger Baker explained that in 2012, the city council increased the amount the mayor is authorized to approve without obtaining council approval from $8,000 to $20,000. At that time, other sections of the city code were not changed to reflect that increase.
Ordinance 2015-23 would authorize Baker to correct the discrepancies, updating all references to the $8,000 expenditure cap to the correct figure of $20,000, which is stated in the “Mayor’s Duties” section of the city code.
The second ordinance, number 2015-22, clarifies the duties of the city treasurer and the city finance director.
“This ordinance will clarify the authority of the finance director and the treasurer,” Baker said during a presentation to the city council on Wednesday. “There must be a clear delineation of duties between the finance director and the treasurer so money is handled safely and accountably.”
According to Baker, the city finance director is responsible for receiving money and accounting for it, after which the treasurer physically takes the money to the bank and ensures there is enough money in each account to pay the city’s bills.
There have been no problems with mismanaged funds, he added.
“It’s just housekeeping,” he said. “In the course of my job, as I go through the code, I come across sections that need to be updated. They were already doing it right. The code just needed to be updated.”
Both ordinances were passed unanimously by the city council.