Walton City Council held the first readings of several new measures during its meeting Tuesday intended to “tighten up” policy on how city property and money can be used following an investigation into former Mayor Gabe Brown’s conduct earlier this year.
The ordinances revise a chapter of policy on the use of city-owned equipment, which prior to this year, hadn’t been updated since it was passed in 1993. The new ordinances lay out guidelines for Walton’s travel policy and use of city equipment and credit cards.
The travel policy now states that Walton will pay for or reimburse city employees and officials for expenses related to authorized travel, including costs for transportation and air travel (less than first class), lodging, meals, registration fees for trainings and conferences, tips and service charges. City officials must submit itemized receipts of their expenses to the city within 14 days of their return or be held personally responsible for paying them.
The city equipment use policy states that officials must sign acknowledgments of receipt for any equipment issued to them and that it must be returned to Walton once they’ve left their position. If it is not returned, the official must pay the full replacement cost.
Lastly, the council amended an ordinance it passed back in March pertaining to the use of city credit cards. The previous ordinance stated that if receipt of purchase isn’t provided to the city clerk for transactions made with city credit cards, the amount will be deducted from the official’s next pay. However, city attorney Michael Duncan said that this measure was not lawful, and council voted to remove it from the ordinance.
All three measures were unanimously voted in favor. Council will vote on whether to formally adopt them at its next meeting on Sept. 10.