In a move to create tighter controls over spending, council
members adopted a new policy Monday that takes city credit cards
out of the wallets of city employees and puts them under the
authority of department heads.
Hollister – In a move to create tighter controls over spending, council members adopted a new policy Monday that takes city credit cards out of the wallets of city employees and puts them under the authority of department heads.
Earlier this year, the City Council raised concerns about each full-time city employee having a city credit card and asked Administrative Services Director Robert Galvan to revise the city’s credit card policy to limit who has city cards and how they can be used.
“I think they were concerned about the potential for abuse,” City Manager Clint Quilter said. “The way it was, every employee had a card, and they (council members) were uncomfortable with that.”
Councilman Robert Scattini, who said he had long been concerned about each city employee having their own card, said he is pleased with the new policy.
“I didn’t think it was good business. It was sloppy the way they were doing it. And there has been misuse,” he said. “We got better controls now, a better way of controlling expenditures.”
There have been two instances of credit card misuse during the past five years when city employees have had credit cards. Both times the offending employees were punished and their credit card privileges revoked.
Councilman Doug Emerson said that the new procedures are aimed at preventing misuse, rather than addressing an existing problem.
“Just having employees with cards, you lose internal control,” he said. “It’s a preventative thing, not reacting to something that happened.”
Emerson said that he has spent several hours conducting an informal audit of the county’s credit card transactions and found no cause for alarm.
Under the new credit card policy, department supervisors will keep the cards and give them to employees to use for specific, approved purchases only. Also, spending limits of $2,500 per transaction and $20,000 per month per card were instituted.
The cards can be used for things like tools and hardware, building supplies, equipment rental and shipping fees. They cannot be used for office furniture, cellular phones or computer equipment.
During Monday’s meeting Galvan also said he is working on a policy for buying supplies, such as copier paper, in bulk to save money.
Scattini emphasized that the new credit card policy was based on a desire for more control over city spending and not on mistrust.
“I’m not saying every city employee can’t be trusted, but a card can be lost or stolen,” Scattini said. “This is a better way of controlling expenditures.”
