Policies and procedures have become the newest forte of the Mandeville City Council.

The recent legislative audit conducted on the city’s inner workings found the city to be lacking several key policies that ultimately led to the misuse of taxpayer money.

The use of city-issued credit cards was one of the major sore spots found in the audit where tens of thousands of dollars were allegedly improperly spent on personal items and outings. The report surmises the expenditures were ultimately permitted due to the complete lack of credit card usage policies. The city took immediate corrective action and drafted a city-issued credit card policy that was passed during last week’s City Council meeting after the council made thorough additions to Finance Director Milton Stiebing’s initial draft.

Now the council is pouring over two more policies that will likely be discussed at next Thursday’s council meeting.

The first is a 14-page travel policy that was drafted from the state’s travel policy but amended to relate to Mandeville.

According to the policy, any traveling done for city business must first be approved by the department head or other party responsible for reimbursing the traveler. The report cites several city-related reasons for travel including conferences, conventions and emergency travel.

Reimbursable traveling expenses include lodging, meals, fuel and other related costs. The report states travelers will be compensated pending initial approval and the submission of detailed receipts or other documents substantiating the charges. Also, “requests shall not be extravagant and will be reasonable in relation to the purpose of travel,” the policy states.

The most cost-effective and efficient means of travel must also be chosen and “among the factors to be considered should be length of travel time, employee’s salary, cost of operation of a vehicle, cost and availability of common carrier services.”

This policy will be first of its kind for Mandeville and will partner with the new fleet policy currently being worked on by council members.

That policy will regulate city-issued vehicle usage, which has been blatantly misused by several department heads and the mayor according to the auditor’s report.

As of press time, no further details could be obtained concerning the fleet policy.