MONROE — Donations to the city with a value of up to $5,000 can now be accepted without council approval.
The City Council earlier this week unanimously approved amending a city ordinance relating to donations to the city. The decision was made as an effort to streamline the process and even save some money.
Previously, all donations over $1,000 needed council approval, which cost the city money to pay for staff time to prepare documents and have them reviewed by the city attorney, said Mike Farrell, parks and recreation director.
Donors benefit because they would now have shorter wait times for their donations to be formally accepted, he said.
Every city department has received an increase in donations since 2008. Donations can be made in cash, products or services. Examples of donations given to Monroe in March include $1,000 from Wal-Mart for the downtown flower program and $1,400 in services from Cadman to repair flood damage to the Sky River Park parking lot.
Donations can only be used for specific purposes. There are plans to report all donations on the city’s new website, so there’s more transparency, Farrell said.
“It’s really important to report these kind of things,” he said.
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