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Council - Tuesday, May 30 @ 7pm
* Action Item 45 - Protecting the City's Vulnerable Residents
* Consent Item 2 - Clarifying Council Expense Policy
* Should the University of California be more like the City of Berkeley?
Action to Protect Vulnerable Residents
To protect our most vulnerable residents and programs from Federal funding cuts and other emergencies, the City Manager presented Council with a General Fund Reserve Policy to implement our recommendations by adopting a policy to establish a minimal General Fund Reserve level, and designate criteria and procedures for determining:
- Amount to be reserved
- How it will be funded
- How it will be used
- Authority and circumstances needed for drawing down the reserve
The General Fund Reserve Policy Council adopted January 24, 2017 deleted provisions for how Council will draw down, but Council wisely agreed to revisit that language, and will do so Tuesday night, May 30 with Item 45 General Fund Stability Reserve Usage Criteria. To view the full discussion at the January 24 Council meeting, click
here for Item 43, at 3:36:24 (3 hours, 36 minutes, 24 seconds); to see only the brief City Auditor comments, fast forward to 3:57:10.
Clarifying Council Expense Policy
Tuesday night, Council will take action on Item 2 Amending the Council Expense Reimbursement Policy. The proposed revisions will clarify Berkeley's compliance with stringent limits California legislation places on expenses such as meals and travel for local legislators.
Should the University of California be more like the City of Berkeley?
The University's Office of the President is under fire for findings in a performance audit from the California State Auditor.
Some of the key issues should sound familiar, including:
- Policy for setting aside reserves
- Transparency of budget and financial reports
- Policies for travel, meal, and conference expenses
- Interference with the audit
How does the UC audit relate to the Berkeley City Auditor's Office and next Tuesday's council agenda?
- Audits: Our report, General Fund Reserve Policy Fails to Convey that Maintaining the Reserve is a Priority, recommended a robust policy for the City's "rainy day fund"; Council will vote Tuesday night to fully implement the policy
- Audits: Our report also recommended more user friendly budget reports, and improvements have been made and are continuing
- Council vs University meal expenses: Updates to the Council expense policies (agenda item #2 on May 30) set out frugal guidelines that mirror state law and rules for all city staff, and guidelines are enforced. UC guidelines are only a suggestion. Lunch per the City guidelines? $15 maximum. Lunch per UC's suggested limits? $47.
- Interference with surveys and audits? Management does not interfere in our audits, and we are confident that if that ever happened, Council would act quickly to support our access to information, as mandated by the City Charter.
What Should We Audit Next?
It's that time again! I am preparing my Audit Plan for FY2018 to present to Council. Do you have audit ideas? Please email your suggestions to
auditor@cityofberkeley.info
, or mail them to City Auditor's Office, 2180 Milvia St. 3rd floor, Berkeley, CA 94704.
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Ask us a question - send us advice
Thank you for your continued support for our work to help Berkeley deliver services in a more efficient, effective, and equitable way. Please contact me at
auditor@cityofberkeley.info or at 981-6750 with your questions, comments, and ideas for the audit plan. I'm always happy to hear from folks who want to get more involved. I look forward to hearing from you.
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Sincerely,
Ann-Marie Hogan, Auditor
City of Berkeley Auditor's Office |
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| Audit News from the City Auditor May 2017 |
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