City of Hartford Finance Department Procurement Card Program Audit
3
Management Response and Legal Opinion from Corporation Counsel
The Mayor states that he did not authorize any charges to be placed on the P-
Card of Maritza or any City of Hartford employee’s P
-Card for the purpose you question. According to the Mayor, when a request to assist an employee with funeral expenses was presented to him by another employee (not the worker whose daughter was being buried) he agreed the City would contribute $3,000 if funds could be identified. The Mayor further stated that he expected an invoice to be presented for payment and to be told how the payment would be made in advance.
In the Mayor’s opinion he felt it was appropriate to assist a dedicated employee who was in dire need a
fter suffering a tragic loss. It is not
normally the role of this Office to opine on the Mayor’s determination of what constitutes an appropriate expenditure of fund
s absent some evidence of fraud, conflict of interest, personal gain or some other illegal activity. It is important to note that none of those factors are present here and it appears that the Mayor was only interested in assisting a valued employee. However, even though the Mayor did not authorize use of a P-Card to pay funeral expenses, it w
as nevertheless inappropriate to authorize payment of funeral expenses for an employee’s family
member using City money. City monies should only be used for a valid public or official purpose.
On September 2, 2012, the Mayor, Acting Chief Operating Officer and Finance Director signed off on a set of policies regarding the issuance and use of P-Cards. The policy sets forth the terms and conditions under which employees in various job categories may use P-Cards, including applicable credit card limits, commodity code restrictions and required supporting documentation. The terms and condition may differ depending on whether the employee is the COO, a Department Head, supervisor or other designated card holder, and further depending on the procurement needs of the particular department. The policy specifically provides that P-Cards issued pursuant to the program, shall only be used for official City of Hartford purchases. According to the e-mail you provided me for review, Management and Budget Director Jose Sa
nchez directed Maritza Braithwaite to pay $3,000 to Carmen Funeral Home for the expenses of a City employee’s family member.
I understand from speaking to Jose Sanchez and Comptroller Leigh Ann Ralls who is copied on that e-mail that they both felt a P-Card was the best and most appropriate method of paying that expense. In fact, the Comptroller and the Acting Finance Director both approved of that transaction. Maritza Braithwaite is the administrative assistant to the Chief Operating Officer. She only did as she was directed to do by senior management. I find that Maritza did not violate P-Card policy by using her P-Card as directed. In order to prevent this from happening in the future, the Mayor advises that he has directed that the P-Card policy be amended to prohibit departments from charging P-Card purchases on
another department’s P
-Card. The Mayor has further directed that no one can authorize a P-Card holder to use his or her P-Card to make an expenditure on their behalf even if they as authorizer could have appropriately made the expenditure on their own. It is my further opinion that the Director of Management and Budget, the Comptroller and the former Acting Finance Director all violated the P-Card policy by directing and authorizing payment of the expense in question. The P-Card policy contains a section entitled compliance which provides in part: a Public Official or employee of the City who knowingly incurs any obligation or authorizes any expenditure in violation of policies included in this manual and Procurement ordinances in general, will be subject to disciplinary action. While I have seen nothing to indicate that any of the three individuals mentioned previously intentionally violated the section of the policy which requires that P-Cards only be used for official City of Hartford purchases, the policy was nevertheless violated. It is for the Chief Operating Officer and the Mayor as administrators of the