01-13-25 - Council Meeting Agenda

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City of Lino Lakes Public Purpose Expenditure Policy Adopted January 13, 2025 As a taxpayer -funded organization, the City of Lino Lakes ("City") is committed to controlling expenditures and ensuring adherence to the Minnesota Public Purpose Doctrine based on the Minnesota State Constitution, Article X Section 1. Purpose The City recognizes that public funds may only be spent if the expenditure meets a public purpose, and the expenditure relates to the governmental purpose for which the City was created. The meaning of "public purpose" is constantly evolving. The Minnesota Supreme Court has followed a broad approach and has generally concluded that "public purpose" means an activity that meets all of the following standards: • The activity will primarily benefit the community as a body • The activity is directly related to functions of government • The activity does not have as its primary objective the benefit of a private interest whether profit or not -for -profit This policy is intended to provide guidelines regarding which expenditures are for public purposes and authorized in accordance with the City's annual budget process, and which expenditures are not considered to fall within the public purpose definition and are therefore not allowed (see also Minn. Stat. § 15.46 and Minn. Stat. § 365.10, subd. 12). Policy Expenditures of public funds must comply with the public purpose standards defined above. When reviewing an expenditure to verify the standards have been met, the following should be considered: • The time of day the event is held • The business purpose of the event • The frequency of the event • The reasonableness of the cost • The availability of funds/resources • Whether the event was intended to attract non -City employees The following guidelines address specific examples of public expenditures, but the examples are not meant to be all-inclusive. Meals and Refreshments