City Cuts Credit Cards, Eliminates Petty Cash

Mayor Rahm Emanuel last month announced a new City-wide reimbursement policy that aims to increase government accountability and protect taxpayer money. The policy cuts the number of City credit cards from 500 to 30, bans the use of petty cash, and imposes new limits on reimbursable charges.

"As public servants, we are employed by the people of Chicago, and misuse of their hard-earned tax dollars will not be tolerated," said Mayor Emanuel.

The new policy is the result of a review performed by City Comptroller Amer Ahmad, with pro bono support from Sidley Austin LLP, Navigant Consulting, and Civic Consulting Alliance to research best practices. The City's internal review found "numerous reimbursements in the thousands of dollars," despite a policy that was supposed to limit accounts and individual expenditures to $1,000.

"Sidley as a firm was very pleased to help Civic Consulting and the City craft a solution to this concrete problem," said Bill Conlon, Partner at Sidley Austin LLP. "Among other things, it gave one of our more junior corporate governance lawyers a leading, hands-on role in an important and time-sensitive project, which was both fulfilling for him and helpful in his professional development."