Commission considers purchasing system options

Wood County commissioners decided to try a purchasing card system on a small scale until the end of June before deciding whether to implement such a system countywide.

Karen Inghram and Chad Mildren with United Bank met with commissioners on Monday to discuss a Visa purchasing card system, which Inghram said would save the county time, paper and money.

“I think the pilot program will probably prove itself. I can’t see where we would lay someone off because we would magically save a lot of paperwork. I think it would save some paperwork, and there are some small purchases, such as are made in maintenance, that would be a good place to test this process, and they (the maintenance department) are under our direct control. What you give up is the prepurchase order system,” said commission President Bob Tebay.

“Under the current system, if you need a lightbulb for $1.35 maintenance would type or hand write out a requisition that would have to be sent up, signed by two county commissioners, then a purchase order would be issued. Then the employee could buy the lightbulb, take the purchase order to the vendor, get the lightbulb and a receipt then submit the receipt to the county commission to be signed, which would then be sent to finance to cut one check for $1.35. Under this system, you could use this card to purchase it, save the receipt and reconcile the statement at the end of the month,” said Commissioner Blair Couch.

“I think this card system would be a tremendous cost savings and save time for the employees. Plus right now an employee could probably get the lightbulb based on an assurance that payment would be coming, so there is no control and there are purchases being made without purchase orders, so the system is broken. This is a potential system fix which allow good employees to do their job with oversight in place, the feds do it, the state does it, other counties do it, we need to do it too,” Couch said.

Inghram said studies and surveys show using the traditional methods through a purchase order system it has been estimated it costs $89.21 with all the time and components involved to pay a paper invoice no matter how much it’s for, compared to $21.83 for using this system.

Inghram said a number of other counties have adopted this method for purchasing, including Jackson County.

She said the system got started in 1989 when the General Services Administration was looking for a more efficient way to handle its procurement process. “It was cumbersome and costing them millions each year. Visa developed this program for GSA and it’s such a good program. It saves money, so it was rolled out and offered to other companies, and government agencies,” she said. “It’s cutting out a lot of paperwork and saves a lot of time.” The system allows the entity to set spending limits, monitor spending, place restrictions on individual cards and only authorized personnel could use the cards.

“Each program is different, depending on what you need and want to use the cards for, it can be used for procurement, travel,” she said, noting there is liability coverage included to protect against misuse of the card.

The commissioners voted unanimously to implement the system at this time only for the maintenance department, which is under the direct control of the county commission, and only until the end of the current budget year, which is June 30 as a trial.

For services/products under $15,000 the county is not required to obtain bids.

Inghram said the bank is willing to waive the cardholder feees. “The card won’t cost the county anything,” she said.

Officials noted the merchant pays the charge for the card usage, and that charge varies depending on the type of system the entity uses to process credit card payments.

Assessor Steve Grimm uses credit cards in his office that are paid under his reappraisal fund, which is separate from the general county budget. “We have a limit for everyday expenses, and it can be used for travel to association meetings, for example. We took the initiative and got this. I think it’s a good idea. It’s much easier,” Grimm said.

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Commission considers purchasing system options