Mayor vetoes new no receipt' policy

By By Fredie Carmichael / staff writer
March 5, 2003
Meridian officials will have to follow a city policy that requires them to file receipts in order to be reimbursed for meals and other expenses from out-of-town, work-related trips.
Mayor John Robert Smith on Tuesday vetoed a Meridian City Council's decision that would have changed the policy and eliminated the need for officials to file receipts.
Smith said he vetoed the action because state law requires receipts be shown in order to be reimbursed.
Smith's veto comes two weeks after councilmen changed the city's policy because they thought state law had changed and no longer required receipts to be filed.
Bill Hammack, the city's attorney, told the council the law had not changed. Hammack said state policy has changed, but not the state statute.
Smith told the council that he had requested an attorney general's opinion on the issue. He said he expects to receive the opinion in two weeks.
Some councilmen argued that other cities in Mississippi have already changed their policy and no longer have to file receipts. Some also said that the state auditor has ruled that they do not have to file receipts.
But city officials urged the council to wait on the attorney general's opinion anyway.
Ward 5 Councilman Bobby Smith, who originally pushed for changing the policy, made a motion to override the mayor's veto. He was unsuccessful. Ward 4 Councilman Jesse Palmer Sr. was the only other councilman who voted to override the veto.
Councilman Smith said he was surprised councilmen failed to override it.
CLOSED MEETING
The Meridian City Council met behind closed doors for about 10 minutes Tuesday with Mayor John Robert Smith, Public Works Director Monty Jackson, Chief Administrative Officer Ken Storms and City Attorney Bill Hammack. Ward 1 Councilman George Thomas said the council discussed "pending and threatening litigation associated with the city council." The council offered no other details.