Caught by surprise at their Aug. 4 meeting by a contract proposal from a private company for administration and auditing of the city’s hotel-motel tax program, the Winder City Council asked Acting City Administrator Donald Toms to ensure that, in the future, they receive copies of all contracts involving the city government in advance of any meetings at which they will be expected to vote on those arrangements. The contract with California-based Hinderliter De Llamas & Associates, which provides auditing and other financial services to local governments, was included in a packet of information distributed to council members, but neither they nor Mayor Jimmy Terrell indicated that they had seen it prior to its appearance on the agenda for the Aug. 4 meeting. “I’m not comfortable voting on something unless I’m actually able to read the contract,” Councilwoman Jessica Burton, who is an attorney, said during the meeting, adding later that “if we need to bring any others (contracts) before council, if we could just get those ahead of time – fantastic.” Under the contract with Hinderliter De Llamas & Associates, which got unanimous approval after the council adjourned briefly to review the 10-page document, the city will pay the company a one-time implementation fee of $5,000, and an annual fee of $950 per hotel or motel property in the city (with a minimum annual charge of $12,000), as well as $250 for services related to short-term rental properties. The contract included in the…
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