PRESQUE ISLE – More people will be poring over details of the city’s finances after the City Council agreed Monday night to establish a financial oversight committee.

Councilors created the four-member committee to review and approve proposed audit services as well as to set up a procedure for receiving complaints about financial mismanagement.

Councilor G. Melvin Hovey proposed the idea for the committee during the council’s last meeting. The concept, which Hovey formed after attending a municipal workshop, would give the council a more active role in city finances, since it ultimately is responsible for them.

Hovey said Monday night that the council should ensure there is more supervision of the money coming in and going out of the city’s coffers.

The committee, as he proposed it, would be responsible for examining audit services, such as: the scope of an audit, the engagement agreement, the independence of the auditor, and the auditor’s internal control procedures and associated fees.

The committee also would meet independently with outside auditors to confirm accounting procedures, to ensure that practices and controls are adequate and up to current standards, and to review any disagreements that may occur between those who handle the city’s money and an external auditor.

He also suggested that the committee review procedures for “assessing the risk and control strategies for preventing fraudulent financial reporting,” as well as procedures for monitoring and ensuring that all investments are being made in accordance with state and council policy.

Councilor Ron McPherson pointed out that the city already has oversight built within its structure and questioned whether the committee was needed. Hovey responded that there should be a procedure in place that city employees could turn to – without fear of penalty – if they needed to report improper financial dealings.

Councilor Calvin Hall pointed out that the committee was being considered not because it was needed to address an existing concern, but because it was meant to be “prudent planning” on the city’s part.

Two city councilors, the city manager, and an at-large member with financial experience are expected to serve on the committee in staggered three-year terms.

The council also formed a subcommittee to develop a policy for the newly established committee. Council Chairman Walt Elish and Councilors Hovey and Ed Nickerson will serve on the subcommittee with the city manager and the city’s finance director, Donald “Spike” Savage.

Also during the meeting, officials voted to pay for an independent appraisal of the Maysville Street property owned by Sitt Asset Management, which is being leased by the Aroostook Centre Mall and Lowe’s. The council’s approval was subject to the review of the city’s solicitor.

Thomas Stevens, the city manager, explained to the council that Sitt had been looking to challenge the city’s valuation of the property but had not done so. He said that with all the changes made recently to the property, including the razing of the cinema and the construction of Lowe’s home improvement center, city officials felt it was time for the city to get a new, independent appraisal done to make sure they were taxing at the right level. He added that the issue involves a unique piece of property and that the city has paid for appraisals of unique property before.

If approved by the city solicitor, the appraisal will cost the city between $13,000 and $16,500. Funding would come from a planning and development account. Stevens said the appraisal would be conducted in the coming months.