NEW ALBANY — With an ordinance on the table for a deciding vote today that calls for the New Albany City Council to assume approval authority for bill payments from the Board of Public Works and Safety, a second measure will be introduced that would give the body additional funds to use without the council’s approval.

Earlier this month, Councilman Kevin Zurschmiede’s ordinance that called for most claims to be approved by the council instead of the board of works was defeated by a 5-4 count on first reading.

Councilman Dan Coffey said the city’s guidelines state an ordinance is considered dead after the first reading if it doesn’t pass, but Zurschmiede called for a second ballot to be taken on the measure. Zurschmiede said the council has traditionally always voted three times on an ordinance regardless if it fails on first reading.

But Coffey abstained on the second vote after casting a ballot against the measure on first reading. The ordinance is one example of the discussions and votes the council has had or taken regarding the authority of the administration and bodies selected primarily by the mayor to handle certain financial decisions.

Zurschmiede declined to comment further on his proposed ordinance, but he has called for the council to take on more oversight of financial processes since it is the legislative body in charge of approving funding.

Council President Diane McCartin-Benedetti voted in favor of Zurschmiede’s ordinance, and said there have been past issues regarding payment of claims that were pointed out during State Board of Accounts audits.

Benedetti and Zurschmiede attempted to dispel the belief that they were faulting Mayor Jeff Gahan, who took office in January, but instead were reacting to a history of problems that spans multiple administrations.

“This isn’t about power,” Benedetti said during the meeting.

A legal adviser selected by the administration said during the meeting that by his interpretation of the city’s ordinances, the council didn’t have the authority to take back claims approval authority from the board of works without the mayor’s consent, which Gahan hasn’t provided.

With the third vote on the measure set for tonight, Coffey is also slated to introduce a transfer of $100,000 from the council’s annual budget to the board of works.

He said the money would be used, if needed, for expenses tied to the Riverfront Amphitheater, bicentennial events and emergency costs as deemed necessary by the board of works.

If the money — which Coffey said isn’t earmarked for a particular council expense and shouldn’t have been in the body’s budget in the first place — is transferred, the board of works will have ultimate control over how it’s spent.

Coffey said not every project should be funded by the board of works without council approval, but that some expenses can be handled without review from multiple city bodies.

“Sometimes politics rears its ugly head, and nothing gets done,” he said Wednesday. “We have the bicentennial coming up, and sometimes something comes up and you need the money then, you can’t have it three months down the road.”

Coffey has been somewhat of a tie breaker on certain measures that have come before the council this year. He voted for a new parks agreement, though the deal was struck down by a Gahan veto following the 5-4 council decision.

He did back keeping claims approval with the board of works in another 5-4 vote that supported the administration. But Coffey voted in favor of creating a separate checking account for the general fund in a measure that passed 5-4 last month.

Coffey criticized Mayor Doug England’s administration for, in his view, not being forthcoming with some financial information during his most recent term in office. But he said Wednesday Gahan “deserves his due” for some of the work he’s accomplished.

Gahan “really is trying to do things to beautify this city and make it look better and clean it up,” Coffey said.

Also on tap for tonight’s meeting, the council is scheduled to take a final vote on forming a Human Rights Commission. The ordinance, sponsored by Councilman Greg Phipps, passed unanimously on first and second readings earlier this month.

The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the third-floor Assembly Room of the City-County Building.