The Selma Town Council has amended their Inventory Policy but not as much as requested by the town’s auditors.
Current Town policy requires tracking for any item valued at $5 or more. That amount hasn’t been changed in years and the number of items in inventory in each town department exceeding $5 has grown tremendously, according to a report presented to council members by Finance Director Kim Batten.
As part of the auditing process each year, the town has to produce a list of items in inventory and a small select number tested for accuracy.
To help ease the process, the auditor recommended increasing the policy to track items valued at $25 or more.
Councilman William Overby said he was against jumping from $5 to $25 saying he was concerned about possible waste. “A lot of things can fall under $25,” Overby said, while also questioning whether the current inventory of items is accurate. “I don’t think we have our hands on the inventory yet.”
Councilman Eric Sellers said he understood Overby’s concerns but at the same time realized tracking a $6 item could actually cost more than the item itself.
The items being tracked range from transformers, utility poles, to bolts and brackets.
Town Manager Jon Barlow recommended in the future Selma consider hiring a purchasing agent whose primary duty would be to track the inventory of town assets.
In a unanimous vote, the council agreed to a compromise to increase the minimum inventory policy from $5 to $15 and look at raising it to $25 during the next fiscal year.
