BAY CITY -- Bay City’s regularly scheduled city commission meeting took on an unexpected turn Monday night, adding to what was already a busy agenda. Several residents voiced outrage after thousands of dollars in questionable city credit card expenses were made, following a series of media reports from this past weekend.
City Manager Robert Belleman said he believes the documents came from a city employee, possibly disgruntled as city officials pressed employee unions for 10.8 percent in compensation reductions, in order to trim a $1.6 million deficit in the current budget. He said his office was studying the validity of every expense listed.
NBC25 obtained a copy of the purported expenses Monday night. It covers everything from food expenditures for business meetings, to parts for city equipment and conference lodging. For example, $1,756.74 was spent for lodging at a hotel called the Harbour View Inn on July 6, 2008. One year later, two separate credit card purchases were made for housing at the Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn Lodge, in the amounts of $124.95 and $374.85 respectively. City officials say those dollars were reimbursed by various organizations.
One of the sticking points was in the purchase of gas cards for certain employees. The report lists a charge of $499.95 in gas cards from Speedway.com. Reaction was mixed as city commissioners discussed the issue at a finance policy study session before the main commission meeting. Commissioner John Davidson said the information appeared to be incomplete and did not warrant a major focus. Mayor Charles Brunner disagreed, saying transparency is essential to local government operations.
Belleman said he was confident the majority of purchases were legitimate.
“Quite frankly I’m very confident in the process that we have in place,” he said. “We ensure that there is an independent review of any credit card consumption or use so we have our purchasing department review these purchases on a monthly basis,” he added.
Belleman said the city commission must decide what, if any action should be taken over the matter, but the purchases will most likely be studied further.
