READ: Solon's Proposed Anti-Fraud Policy

members will soon be approving the city's first anti-fraud policy.

The idea to formalize procedures for dealing with fraud allegations was brought forward by Finance Director Dennis Kennedy after he was hired.

The proposed policy has gone through a number of drafts, the latest of which was presented to city council during its July 16 meeting.

You can read the entire policy by clicking the PDF attached to this article.

Here are some highlights:

• The policy is designed to protect the city from embezzlement, altering or falsifying documents, misapproriating city property, theft, falsifying work hours and more.
• Employees should report suspected fraud to their department head. If they suspect the department head, they should contact the police.
• The police and the law director will determine if an investigation is warranted, and will conduct the investigation.
• City council will be notified of cases after an investigation is complete.
• The finance director will monitor departments internal controls to make sure they are doing the best they can to prevent fraud.

City council plans to vote on the policy at its next meeting to give residents and staff time to read it.