Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/107047
Sarasota News Leader February 1, 2013 Page 26 ment Department and its business units, he said he and his fellow NIGP consulting team members heard one story about an employee who had to make a 20-minute round trip to get a fuse, instead of being able — as would have been the procedure in the past — to use a P-card to buy one at a nearby store. Moore also pointed out that the county could undertake credit checks on employees being considered for use of P-cards. Such checks cost about $7 each, Moore pointed out, adding, "If [employees are] not responsible with their own finances, it's likely they are not going to be responsible with a P-card." During a 90-minute presentation, Moore recommended the County Commission not only allow more employees once again to use the P-cards but that it also raise the purchase limits on the cards from $3,000 to $5,000. Adequate controls are in place now, Moore added, to prevent inappropriate use of the cards. Still, he told the board, "We're not just suggesting you give everybody a P-card." An audit undertaken in July 2011 by the Office of the Clerk of the 12th Judicial Circuit Court found that of the county's 2,000 employees at the time, 1,000 had P-cards, Commissioner Nora Patterson noted. "That struck me as riIn 2012, Moore pointed out, 44 percent of the diculous to supervise." county's purchases were less than $5,000, and Moore countered that his team had never seen they represented only 1.4 percent of the coun- documentation of more than 500 cards being ty's total expenditures. held by county workers at any one time, and the research went back several years. P-card abuse was one factor uncovered in reviews of Procurement Department practices In response to a question from Commissionwhen the 2011 scandal erupted. er Christine Robinson, Moore pointed out, County Commissioners Charles Hines and Christine Robinson listen to a presentation during a recent board meeting. File photo