With just a few months left in their terms, St. Joseph’s mayor and City Council members have renewed their push to hire an internal city auditor.

Council members and city staff discussed the potential duties and ways to pay for the position.

The mayor originally asked for an auditor so the council would have someone to go to with questions concerning the city budget and other financial matters.

In previous discussions on the topic, City Manager Vince Capell suggested the council did not place enough trust in city employees who already had the information needed to perform such a task.

Mayor Ken Shearin said Wednesday he never questioned the abilities of city employees.

“It was never meant to be a challenge,” Mr. Shearin said. “It was meant to give us someone who could provide the expertise that nobody on this council has to deal with the budget.”

Mr. Capell told the mayor that city staff already had the expertise to answer questions for the council. He referred to the two months of budget meetings held each year, and also to a nearly 20-year history of clean financial audits that council members rarely questioned.

“We don’t know what to ask for,” the mayor said.

Travis Owens, president of Local No. 77 of the International Association of Firefighters, said he didn’t view the request for an internal auditor as an indicator that council members distrust city staff. He said Local 77 also had a history of clean audits, but brought in an additional auditor so a second set of eyes could review the group’s finances and operations.

“They didn’t find any problems, but they showed us a few new places we could save money that the other guys missed,” Mr. Owens said. “I don’t see a problem with double- or triple-checking yourself.”

Shawn Henderson, spokesman for City Employees United, said his experience as both a policeman and firefighter showed examples where the city may save money if it changed certain practices. He suggested the city keep an additional auditor on retainer instead of hiring a new employee.

Mr. Capell said the council’s most important task was to decide what an internal auditor should look for. An auditor who focused solely on financial matters would be redundant, he said, but one who examined the efficiency of city operations could be worthwhile.

Council members agreed to consider the auditor position further at a later date.

Clinton Thomas can be reached

at clintonthomas@npgco.com.