Q: What bills can we pay without the council having to approve them?
A: Regular periodic utility bills (Title 62, Section 305.1), employment or other taxes, pension fund payments, periodic insurance payments (Title 62, Section 304.1) may be paid without first issuing a purchase order in accordance with local policy.
Oklahoma Statutes Citationized Title 62. Public Finance
Chapter 2 - Provisions Applicable to Subdivisions of the State
Section 304.1 - Payment of Regular Personnel - Payroll Statements and Affidavits - Authorization for Payment of Certain Taxes and InvoicesCite as: O.S. §, __ __
A. The regular personnel of any agency of any county, city, town, school district or board of education may be certified to the governing board thereof for payment by a payroll purchase order in the manner herein provided. For the purpose of this section, regular personnel is hereby defined as those persons whose appointment or employment or election, whether on full or part-time basis, together with the rate of pay unless the same be fixed by law, has been confirmed or otherwise fixed by the governing board, in each instance, and entered in its journal of proceedings or by separate contract of employment properly authenticated and filed of record; provided, for school districts only, regular personnel may be defined as including persons who are employed on a temporary or occasional basis.
B. For each pay period, the duly elected or appointed head of any department, office, suboffice, district, station or school may execute, on behalf of himself and his subordinates, a payroll statement, itemizing in detail the names of such persons, nature of employment or service, rate of pay each, hours worked, and dates of service within the payroll period if less than a full payroll period. This statement shall be verified by affidavit as to:
1. Subordinate relationship of all persons named, other than himself, to the affiant;
2. Record of employment or contract relationship of all persons named; and
3. Services performed under direct supervision.
The form of affidavit shall be prepared by the State Auditor and Inspector, and shall provide for entry therein by words, and figures, as to the number of persons certified to in such payroll statement and affidavit.
The statement and affidavit shall be deemed to include the approval of departmental head and receipt acknowledging services of subordinate, where such is required by law; and no further statements for that purpose shall be required. The subordinate employees named therein shall not be required to sign the payroll statement and affidavit unless the governing board, by official order, so requires, in which event, each may sign opposite his own name. Affidavit to any payroll statement may be verified by any officer authorized to take acknowledgments, or by the clerk of the county, city, town, school district or board of education, as the case may be.
C. The payroll statement and affidavit shall be forwarded to the clerk of the county, city, town, school district or board of education, and shall become a permanent part of the financial records of the agency. The total payroll amounts from the payroll statement and affidavit, and the amounts charged to each appropriation and fund of the agency, shall be listed or estimated on the payroll purchase order for consideration and payment by the governing board. The amount to be paid pursuant to a payroll purchase order may be encumbered as of the date the purchase order is considered by the governing board for payment or as of the date payroll payments are made.
D. The encumbering officer or clerk of a municipality, county or school may authorize payment of the following taxes and invoices as they become due without a purchase order or further approval of the governing board:
1. Taxes, including, but not limited to, withholding, social security or unemployment compensation taxes;
2. Retirement or pension fund payments or contributions which are payable pursuant to a resolution, ordinance, contract or other appropriate agreement which has been approved by the governing board; and
3. Payments for insurance or related coverages, including, but not limited to, accident, health or life, workers' compensation, or any other property, vehicle, marine, surety, liability or casualty coverages, which are payable under a valid contract, policy or other appropriate agreement which has been approved by the governing board.
Oklahoma Statutes Citationized Title 62. Public Finance
Chapter 2 - Provisions Applicable to Subdivisions of the State
Section 305.1 - Municipal or Public Utility Billing - Payment Without Verification - Late Charges - DiscountsCite as: O.S. §, __ __
The governing board of a municipality shall be authorized to allow and pay the regular periodic billings of any municipal utility or of any public utility whose rates are fixed by, and are subject to the approval of, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission or any other public regulatory body or board of any utility cooperative for services furnished by the utility to the municipality without the issuance of a purchase order and filing of an invoice by such municipal or public utility, provided, further, that no municipal or public utility shall attach a late charge or deny a discount on any bill until a thirty-day period has lapsed from the receipt of the bill.