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DEPUTY CITY COUNSELORSNANCY R. KISTLERMICIIAEL A. GARVIN
ASSOCIATESKATHLEEN G, TANNERDONALD G. DYLEWSKILESLVE E,
MITCHELL.YANCEYMARIBETII MCMAHONMARKE. LAWSONTHOIV1AS .
MCDONN-ELLMATTHEW M. MOAKSUSANL. PHELPSCRAIG K, HIGGINSTHONIASJ.
GOEDDELRAYMOND B, FLOJOJACQUELINE D, HARRISDANIEL J.
EMERSONCHRISTINE L, HODZICNANCY E, EMMEL
LAW DEPARTMENTPATRICIA A. HAGEMANCITY COUNSELOR31 4CITY
HALL12O() ARKET STREETSAINTLOUIS,MO 63103-2864(314)622-336r
Facsimile14\ 622-4956
FRANCISG. SLAYMAYOROctober ,2013
ASSISTANTSPATRICIA L. WENDLiNGPAUL R, DIEI(HOFFALAN R.
SCHMIDTBARBARA E. BIRKICHTROBERT M. HIBBSREBECCA K
WRIGHIRICI{ARD.F. SYKOMDAVID A, MEYERJ. BRENT DULLEJENNIFER R.
CHESTNUT TRADAERIKA E. ZAZASANDRA P, ZAMBRANARICHARD L,
KJSMERJUSTIN R, TARMONRORY P, O'SULLryANERIN IC IVICGOWANMICHELLE
M. BURRIELALEXIS L. SILSBEMALLORI E. ALLENANNA L. MOLITOR
Hand-DeliveredHonorable arleneGreen/- ^mh+f^l r afvu l l tP Lr
vrrv r1200MarketStreet, oom212St.Louis,MO 63103
Re:Agreementor Consulting
ervicesetweenheCityandVeoliaWaterNorthAmerica-Central,LCDearComptrollerGreen:
Enclosedor your signature iease ind threeoriginalcopies f an
AgreementorConsulting ervices"Contract")
etweenheCityandVeoliaWaterNorthAmerica-Central,LLC. Pgrsuanto
yourdiscussion ith theMayor, hepurposef this etteris to provide
ouabrief review andanalysis f the Contractapproval
rocess.-,\r,5;--oJiaas Selecteds he op choiceby a selection
ornmitteestablishedursuanto Ordinance:4t}2i Theenclosed
ontractpiovides or a four-monthermat a totalcostof
$250,000,ayablerom undsappropriatedotheWaterDepartment'sudgetor
FiscalYeat2014.I havebeenaskedo providean opinion egardingwhetherhe
Boardof Estimate&Apportionment "E&A") mustprovide
uitherapproval f this Contracth light of the act hatE&A
alreadyapprovedhe appropriationhatwili beused o cover heCity's
paymentobligations.Aftir reviewing hehistoryof theappropriationnd
hecontractor electionpro""rr"r, it is my opinion hat all of the
requisiteapprovals lready avebeenobtained nd hatyorr,usComptrolier,
uo"a ministerial uty o sign heenclosed.,lgElf?t: . - '.0f :.; .,';
i, , .{4 ,, t . ' : ' ' " : : ' : , :. As you know, he City
Charterequireshat heexpenditufef public
funds,!e.qylbflr:dthroughappropriationsmadeby ordinance,
ndsuchordinanc'e"'sustberecommended^b/!&,4'Charterat Article V,
sec. 25.'ltspart of E&A's dutiesn this qgard,t is responsibieoi
' ";submittinghe City'sannual roposedudgeto theBoardof
Aldermen,nclrlding,a:l1. '. '
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_
HonorableDarleneGreenOctober ,2013Page of3recommended rdinance
appropriating he amountsdeemed ecessaryor the TabieofOrganization,
s well as he persomel, supplies,maintenance,epairs,services, nd
contractualrequirements or the use of eachdepartment"foi that
fiscal yeat. City Charter, Art. WI,Section3 The Board of Aldennen
assigns roposed udgetsandappropriationso its WaysandY"*
C-ommittee"Ways & Means")prior to the Board's passage ia
Ludgetordina.rce.TheBoard of Aldermenmay reduce he amountof any
item in the proposedappropriation rdinance(with someexceptions),but
it may not increasesuch amountor insert new items
gnlessspecificallyapprovedby E&A. Id.
Aside from the Charter's requirement hat E&A must approveand
recommendappropriations,neither the Charternor the City Code
containany provisions requiring E & Aapproval of contractsother
than in Eertainspecific instances,'none f which are pertiient to
thisopinion. ln accordancewith the Charterrequirements,E&A
submitted ts recornmendedbudgetfor FY 2014to the Board of
Aldermen,which contained, mongother hings,appropriationsorthe water
Department. The Board, after hearingsat ways & Means,approved
te -recommendedbudget, including the water
Departmentappropriations.As part of the
budgetprocess,departmentsmay submitwhatareknown as "8D8,'formsin
supportof their respectivebudget equests,These
ormsaresubmittedprior to E&A,s voteonits budget
ecommendations.Prior to approvaiof the FY 2014 budget, he following
occurred n relation o the VeoliaContract:(1 A selection ommitteehat
.vas onvened ursuanto Ordinanc 64102 ecommended
Veoliaoverothercompaniesn a competitiveelectionrocess.
heselection asannouncedovember ,20I2.t Eachmember f E&A
appointedmembero thatselection ommittee.Theselection f Veoliawas
hereforenown o eachmember fE&A prior o
itsconsiderationndapprovarf thecity's Fy 2014budget,(2) Thewater
Department ubmitteda formBD8 aspartof its budget equests,requesting
$250,000 ppropriationor anoutside ontractoror operationsassistance.
his form wassubmittedo theBudgetDirector,whoreportso
E&A,andwasavailableo E&A membersor reviewpriortoE & A's
recommendationftheCity'sFY 2014 udget.(3)
TheWaterDepartment'sudgetequests erediscussednddebatedn
detailatpublicWays&
Meanshearings.PublicUtilitiesDirectorCurtSkouby
xpresslytestifiedhat hebudget ndappropriationrdinancerecommendedy
E&ey -inciuded $250,000 ppropriationor theVeoliaContractI have
eviewed
I A version f theVeoliaContractwasoriginaily ncluded n heDeeembr
2012E&Aagendaor approvalut hemattorwas abled' At the ime,
therewasno budgetappropriationor theVeolia""p.nr.l
Therefore^E&Approvalwould_haveeen equired ecauseherewasno
appropriationor heconkact sof ihat ime. E&A approvalsnotneeded
ow becausehecurrent ear'sbudget ontains nappropriationor
theVeoliaContract.
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HonorabieDarlene GreenOctober ,2073Page of3recording of that
hearing n order to confirm that testimony). After receiving
thalinformation, the Board of Aldermen did not exercise ts
authority to eliminate the$250,000appropriation or the Veolia
Contract rom the Water Department'soverallappropriation.
(a) The Water Department'sFY 2014 budgetcontains2i separateine
itemsunder heheading Contracfualand OtherSeryices,"As lt4r. Skouby
estified beforeWays&means, he Veolia paymentsare o be made rom
the ine item "professional ervices"under the "Contractual and Other
Seryices"heading.In light of these acts, t is my opinion that the
Board of Aldermen's approvalof E & A'srecommended
ppropriationordinance or FY 2104constitutes ufficientapprovalof the
VeoiiaContract expenditure. While the Charterprovisions do not
explicitly address he matter ofcontractapproval,a trial court
decisionprovides someguidance. n a casestyledCity ofSt .Louis v.
Jones,CaseNo. 904-0A246,he Courtnoted hat he questionof
whetherbudgetapproval constitutes authorization for a particulat
contract nvolves more than simply looking atthe budget itself. In
that case, he Court noted that detail about an appropriation for a
particularcontractmay come from different stagesof the
budget-approval rocess. Examplesprovidedbythe Court were minutes or
records maintainedby E&A aspart if its approval processbut
whrchare not reflected in the budget tself. Among other things, the
Court indicated that approval of anappropriation s sufficient to
constituteapprovalof a particularcontract fthere exists:
-;?'i someexpress, ecorded ecognitionby either he Board of
Aldermen by ordinance r theBoard of Estimate and Apportionment,
that public funds are o be committed to anidentifiable class of
contracts, or an identifiable lar,lful purpose,with an
identifiableclassof contractors . . City of St .Louisv.
Jones,pp.34-35.Here, Veolia was the contractorchosenduringthe
publicselectioncommitteeprocess,the expensewas listed in the
Water,Department's orm BD8 for,budget requestsand the
Ways&Means testimonyof the departmentdirector expressly tated
hat$250,000of theproposedwaterdepartmentbudget was for the Veolia
Contract. This combinationof facts leads me to theconclusion that
the appropriation of funds for the Veolia Contractwas made with
sufficientcandor, opennessand specificity so as to constitute egai
authorization and approval.Accordingly, it is my opinion that you,
as Comptroller,have a ministerialduty to executethe
enclosedcontract. If you wish to discuss his matter further,please
et me know, as amavailableat your convenience.
Sincerely,lf l s.1/ / .l\L!^--V' , )t / i f l ta-.
,/ ) (/ /.,, ,UL ff'^-1L.1/r.2'*r-*--,r)Pafr in ir A
FTeoernanCityCounselor
