Parikkala municipality violated its own management agreement for years

The municipality of Parikkala in southeastern Finland has for years failed to follow procedures set out in its own management agreement, a review of the former mayor’s credit card use has revealed, Yle reported.

An investigation launched this spring found that former mayor Mervi Pääkkö had not submitted receipts for roughly 300 euros worth of purchases made on a municipal credit card. The auditor brought the matter to the audit committee’s attention, triggering a review.

During the review, it emerged that the municipality had not adhered to its management agreement for years. According to the agreement, invoices from the mayor’s credit card and travel expenses were to be approved retroactively by the chair of the municipal board.

Both former board chair Sami Sinkkonen (Centre Party), who served until June 2025, and his successor Jouni Kiviaho (Parikkala group), said they never approved Pääkkö’s credit card invoices. Instead, the municipal administrative director had approved them, a practice both said had been in place for years in the municipality.

In April 2026, Sinkkonen and Kiviaho approved Pääkkö’s invoices after the board decided not to investigate her credit card purchases further. Not all municipal councillors were satisfied with that decision.

Municipal councillor and audit committee chair Maija Valkeapää (Parikkala group) said Pääkkö had still not submitted all receipts. “No one in the municipality still knows what was bought with the municipal card,” she said.

According to administrative director Mirja Tuunanen, the financial secretary checks and codes the mayor’s credit card invoices as with other municipal bills. Tuunanen said the administrative director, as the highest-ranking official below the mayor and the mayor’s deputy, had approved the invoices under a long-standing practice to ensure payment.

The municipality’s administrative regulations define the board chair as the mayor’s supervisor. However, the lead legal expert at the Association of Finnish Municipalities, Ida Sulin, stated that management agreements bind the signatories nominally. The administrative regulations do not mention approval of the mayor’s invoices.

In April, the municipal board announced it would update guidelines on the use of municipal credit cards following recommendations from the auditor and audit committee. The board chair will now be required to review the mayor’s phone bills at least quarterly, although the administrative director will continue to technically approve the credit card invoices.

Valkeapää said she hoped the mayor’s invoices would be approved by the board chair after review by the administrative or financial secretary. “The important thing is that the process is corrected properly and so that such issues are addressed faster in the future,” she said. She also argued that instructions on credit card use should be incorporated into the administrative regulations.

Parikkala has just appointed a new mayor. The board is set to begin preparing a management agreement with the new mayor in June.