A new audit of Roanoke City Council spending confirms the mishandling of expense reimbursements that drove a councilman from office.

A report released Thursday calls for overhauling city policies to prevent incidents like those surrounding the February resignation of former Councilman Alfred Dowe.

Mayor Nelson Harris welcomed the audit's recommendations but noted that the proper handling of public money ultimately comes down to the "honesty and common sense" of city officials and employees.

"If you have someone who is not going to utilize those two values, it doesn't make any difference how many policies or guidelines you have," Harris said.

Dated June 20, the report from the Municipal Auditing Department found other council members' spending to be largely in line with city rules.

But Dowe was reimbursed by both the city and state for some of the same expenses, and for costs associated with three meetings he did not attend or that may not have existed at all, the audit said.

Dowe could not be contacted Thursday. One of his attorneys, John Lichtenstein, wrote in an e-mail that Dowe is repaying the city.

"Without addressing any particular expense, and in the spirit of cooperation that has characterized his actions regarding this matter, it is likely that Mr. Dowe will continue to simply reimburse the City for any item raised through the audit process," Lichtenstein wrote.

Roanoke Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell said Thursday that he assumes his office will receive a copy of the audit and review it for possible criminal charges.

The audit of council members' spending was ordered after controversy arose around Dowe's expenses. He had spent nearly $15,000 on travel and meals in 2007 -- almost as much as the rest of the council combined.

The audit found that in 2006 and 2007, he received $7,138.24 for costs that turned out not to qualify for reimbursement. Dowe has already repaid the city $5,924.75, the audit said.

The report cited 10 occasions when Dowe was repaid both by the state and city for the same trip. It showed three instances in which Dowe was reimbursed by the city for meals whose cost was included in another conference fee, a redundancy noted for other council members as well. And it pointed out eight times that Dowe kept a rental car longer than was needed for city business.

It also raised questions about three events Dowe claimed to have attended:

-- On Feb. 1, 2007, Dowe picked up a rental car in Roanoke at 12:48 p.m. The report concluded he could not have attended the Virginia Municipal League Legislative Day in Richmond, which ran from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Dowe was paid $328.58 for expenses associated with the trip.

-- Dowe was paid $403.08 for an April 4-5, 2007, meeting of the National League of Cities' National Black Caucus Executive Team in Norfolk. The audit team was unable to confirm the meeting took place.

-- Dowe was paid $461.09 for a June 6-8, 2007, meeting of the Criminal Justice Services Board Committee on Training in Richmond. The audit reported that the only Criminal Justice Services Board meeting about this time occurred on June 5, was a different subcommittee than the one cited by Dowe, and was not attended by him.

The audit also looked at other council members' spending in 2006 and 2007, and at personnel and operating expenses under council's budget between July 1, 2005, and June 30, 2007. The audit discovered that six other council members turned in a total of $374.63 in "non-qualified expenditures," ranging from $229.73 for Sherman Lea to zero for Brian Wishneff.

Most of those improper expenditures were blamed on confusing city procedures rather than on the council members themselves.

Councilman Bev Fitzpatrick, who was cited for $37.99 in improper meal reimbursements, said it was not uncommon for council members to be at a conference where meals were included in the registration, but to leave for a working meal elsewhere to discuss city business with officials from other localities.

In his case, he apparently had not turned in sufficient documentation of such meals, Fitzpatrick said.

Though the amounts cited for the council members other than Dowe were small, Fitzpatrick said the increased scrutiny was good. Like Harris, he welcomed the audit's call to clarify city policies on expenses.

"I don't think you can ever be too careful when you're dealing with the public's money," Fitzpatrick said.

The audit faulted city procedures for handling expenses, saying forms were often completed by staff without council members' participation, and that signature stamps were used on reimbursement forms in violation of city policy.

The audit also recorded $1,780 in discretionary expenditures by council members that violated city policies, such as for holiday greeting cards, retirement parties or gifts, or memorial contributions.

The audit found that some of the statements of economic interest filed by council members -- forms that are to help indicate potential conflicts of interest -- were not completed properly, and that there were problems with council travel forms.

The audit commended the city for making its policies available to all employees via its intranet, but said revisions had made some policies contradictory or counterproductive. The audit called for regular policy reviews and wider training of council members.

Councilman David Trinkle said the report's recommendations seem to overlap substantially with reforms council adopted in April and which take effect July 1. "A lot of it just has to do with awareness" of expenses and whether they should really be charged to taxpayers, Trinkle said.

Councilwoman Gwen Mason said it would be up to city staff to sort out how many of the audit's policy recommendations are really new.

The system that is already in place "is responsible and works well," Mason said, "with one glaring exception."

Staff writer Mason Adams contributed to this report.