Reimbursement Policy Review
Partner:
Client:
City of Chicago
Practice Area:
Project Year:
2011
Project Description:
In July 2011, Mayor Rahm Emanuel 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.
The new policy was the result of a review performed by City Comptroller Amer Ahmad. Civic Consulting Alliance contributed to the project, leveraging pro bono support from partner firms Sidley Austin LLP and Navigant Consulting.
Civic Consulting’s partner team conducted research and made recommendations on reimbursement policy best practices. The City's internal review had found numerous reimbursements in the thousands of dollars, despite a policy that was supposed to limit accounts and individual expenditures to $1,000.
The team recommended that the City develop a uniform, consistent monitoring system for credit card expenditures to improve transparency. The City followed this recommendation by posting an online monthly record of all City credit card expenditures.