CHEYENNE – At each meeting, Cheyenne City Council members are presented vouchers to review, where they can see every dollar the city spent. But in recent weeks, the council has started going about its vouchers in a new way, after a clarification from City Attorney Mike O’Donnell.
Before the change, council members voted to approve the vouchers because of a statute that had been misinterpreted for years. Now, instead of approving them, the council will simply discuss any issues they see with city spending.
“Going way, way back, City Council always approved the vouchers,” O’Donnell said. “The vouchers actually don’t require approval.”
The issue with the vouchers arose when residents around the Thomas Heights development were experiencing flooding. The council discussed moving forward with a groundwater study, but ultimately decided not to go through with it.
To the council’s surprise, a payment for the study came before them in the voucher report at a City Council meeting. The council tried to disapprove of the measure again, but they were unable to, since the city had already entered into the contract.
“You can’t change the past, but you can change the future,” O’Donnell said. “That’s where we’ve been in the past six weeks or so.”
Going forward, if members of council see spending they disagree with in the vouchers, they can alter ordinances to prevent similar spending in the future.
After the Thomas Heights contract, the council changed the requirement for professional service agreements. Those contracts used to require council approval if they cost $35,000 or more, but the council recently lowered that threshold to $25,000.
Council President Rocky Case said this statute change gives the council a chance to take a broader look at what type of spending should be allowed with city funds.
“It’s kind of the perfect storm for us to take another look at the city’s spending,” Case said.
For residents who would like to take a closer look at the city’s revenue and spending, City Treasurer Robin Lockman has started releasing digestible monthly budget reports.
To find the report, head online to cheyennecity.org and scroll down to find the “Budget and Financial Reports” link on the lefthand side. Then, scroll down until you see the Monthly Financial Reports.
For those who would like to take an even closer look, you can view the same voucher report the council looks at.
While Lockman’s budget reports add context, the vouchers are just a running list of vendors and how much the city paid them.
To look at the vouchers, head to cheyennecity.org. Scroll down and click on the “Council Agendas, Minutes, Videos” link. Then, click the agenda for whichever City Council meeting you’d like to view. At the bottom of the agenda, you’ll see a link called “VOUCHER REPORT.” Click the supporting document link below it, and you’ll see a very long document that contains each vendor and how much they were paid during that period.
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Margaret Austin is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s local government reporter. She can be reached at maustin@wyomingnews.com or 307-633-3152. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretMAustin.