(A) Policy.
(1) All transactions charged to credit cards shall be made in compliance with adopted county policies and procedures. County credit cards shall not be used to avoid or bypass adopted purchasing or procurement rules. Employees should exercise good judgement and act responsibly when using a county-issued credit card. Credit cards are to be used only by authorized county government employees.
(2) Credit cards should be used as often as possible when making approved purchases. Employees are discouraged from using personal funds to pay for county expenses. The county will only reimburse employees who use personal funds to pay for legitimate county expenses. Department head must provide written approval of the purchase.
(B) Requesting a credit card. Department must request the credit card for the employee. Before a card is issued, an employee must sign the credit card usage agreement form. Distribution of credit cards should be limited to those employees who have a compelling business need. Credit cards should not be provided to employees and officers who have only an occasional or infrequent use. The sharing of credit cards is discouraged as it further weakens oversight.
(C) Responsibility for credit cards. The department head is ultimately accountable for use of any county credit cards assigned to their department.
(D) Custody of credit card.
(1) The credit card is the property of the county and must be kept secure at all times.
(2) If a credit card is lost or stolen, the employee shall immediately notify the County Administrator to cancel the credit card, then shall notify his or her department head.
(E) Sales tax. As a governmental agency county is exempt from paying sales tax on everything except hotel reservations.
(1) When payment is made using a county credit card, sales tax shall not be paid.
(2) In those cases where sales tax is unavoidable, approval of the tax must be obtained from the County Clerk/Auditor.
(F) Limits and restrictions.
(1) Each county credit card is assigned a monthly, daily and per-transaction limit as determined by the County Administrator.
(2) A single purchase cannot be split into multiple transactions to bypass card limits.
(3) If authorized limits become insufficient to meet department needs, an increase may be requested by the department head.
(4) Temporary, per-transaction limit increases for purchases may be approved on an approved purchase order.
(5) County credit cards have been set up to block some transactions based on supplier’s merchant category code.
(6) If the department head believes a transaction should not have been declined they can request that the category is added to the cardholder’s profile.
(G) Card payments. Purchases made over $1,000 must have an approved purchase order prior to purchase being made.
(H) Credit card reconciliation.
(1) All credit card users will submit a credit card reconciliation monthly, no later than the twenty-fifth of the month, with an itemized receipt for each charge.
(2) Receipt must include:
(a) Vendor name;
(b) Quantity purchased;
(c) Unit cost;
(d) Description of product (e.g., for the purchase of food, include what it was purchased for, such as a staff meeting and who attended the meeting); and
(e) Transaction date.
(3) If no itemized receipt is submitted a missing receipt form must be completed signed by both card holder and department head. Excessive use of the missing receipt form may result in loss of credit card privileges.
(I) Unauthorized uses.
(1) Any employee found using a county credit card for an unauthorized use may be subject to the employment disciplinary process, in accordance with this chapter, the following as examples of unauthorized charges:
(a) Personal, non-official expenses of any kind, for any reason;
(b) Purchases considered an inappropriate use of public funds;
(c) Using the county credit card to get a cash, gift cards or other cash equivalents; and/or
(d) Professional services without a current county agreement.
(2) Any unauthorized use may result in criminal charges.
(3) If a county credit card is used for personal expenditures by accident the employee can reimburse the county for expense at 150% of the expense charged (this is a requirement of state law and cannot be waived or changed by the county).
(J) Audits/reviews. Credit cards are subject to audits and reviews by the office of the County Administrator or its agent.
(Ord. 2021-06, passed 8-17-2021)