A. Accounting And Recordkeeping:
1. In order to comply with city ordinances and state law, employees to whom cards are issued must keep copies of itemized receipts for any purchases made with the purchasing card and attach them weekly to the electronic purchasing card statement by PDF scan. Original receipts shall be kept for sixty (60) days and then destroyed.
2. In order to facilitate timely payment each employee is to log onto his or her online statement weekly to reconcile the statement. Reconciliation will include verifying each purchase listed on the statement, electronically attaching a receipt for each purchase, providing a description of each purchase and assigning a valid general ledger expense account number for the purchase to be charged against.
B. Purchasing Card Policy Violations:
1. Violations: The following are violations of the purchasing card policy:
a. Personal Use Of The City Purchasing Card:
(1) Personal use of the purchasing card is strictly prohibited by city policy and by the city's agreement with the card issuer.
b. Travel Expenses On The Purchasing Card:
(1) When an employee cardholder is traveling on city business, he or she must follow all the requirements of policy 1310, "Travel Allowance And Reimbursements", of this manual. Allowable travel expenses for use on purchasing cards is limited to airfare, hotels, transportation related expenses, meals involving other noncity government officials or clients and potential clients of the city and other authorized business related expenses. The purchasing card may be used for occasional, required, team-building meals, including meals with city employees and families, with advance written approval of the department director or chief administrative officer.
(2) Personal meals and incidental items shall be paid for by using a cash advance of per diem and shall not be charged to a city purchasing card. Per diem advances will be based on IRS allowances for the destination city.
c. Non-Travel, Employee-Only Meals:
(1) Employee-only meals, whether catered or dine-out, shall not be paid for with a purchasing card. Infrequent, occasional meetings with a valid business purpose, are permitted, when the only available meeting time spans a meal time. The purchasing card may be used for infrequent, occasional, employee-only meals for the purpose of team-building, coaching, or mentoring. Regular employee-only lunches and standing staff meetings usually will not be permitted, except where the lunch-hour has reasonably been determined by the supervisor to be the only time when all required employees are consistently available, such as, department director meetings, or Mayor or CAO-required meetings. Each cardholder shall comply with the requirements in subsection 1215-3. D.1.e., above.
(2) In the event regular business meals are required to conduct City business, such as City Council work sessions, the purchasing office shall be notified, and the value of such meals will be processed through payroll consistent with IRS rules.
(3) Annual/holiday staff meals may be paid with a purchasing card if the value is under one thousand dollars ($1,000.00). Where an annual/holiday meal is anticipated to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), prior written approval from the chief executive officer is required, and Ogden City procurement policies shall be followed.
(4) Non-travel, employee-only meals, including annual/holiday staff meals, whether catered or dine-out, shall be purchased from an Ogden City vendor where possible.
d. Violations Of City Purchasing Policies:
(1) Purchasing any of the following items with a purchasing card is contrary to city policy. Any expenditures that deviate from policy shall be allowed only upon written approval of the CAO.
(A) Alcoholic beverages, whether in conjunction with a meal or not;
(B) Any purchase for items of personal use;
(C) Any single item exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00) in value;
(D) Any capital equipment; or
(E) Any computer software or computer equipment not authorized in writing by the IT manager.
(2) All policies relative to the competitive process of selecting vendors included in city ordinance or policies 1200 through 1291 of this manual are still applicable to purchases made with a purchasing card.
(3) Employees who violate any provision of the city purchasing policies listed above through the use of a purchasing card will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination.
2. Disciplinary Actions For Purchasing Card Violations:
a. There is established a "three strikes" policy for the violation of purchasing card policy:
(1) The first month in which an employee violates the purchasing card policy will result in a written reminder to the employee with a copy to his or her immediate supervisor.
(2) The second month in which an employee violates the purchasing card policy will result in the card being suspended for seven (7) days.
(3) The third month in which an employee violates the purchasing card policy will result in the revocation of card privileges. In this case, reinstatement can only be authorized by written direction from the chief administrative officer.
C. Emergency Purchasing Card Use:
1. In the case that a credit limit needs to be increased and a department director cannot be reached, the financial operations manager or program administrator will contact the chief administrative officer for the approval of employee's credit limit. (Eff. 6-15-2020)