When a Will County employee misused his government-issued credit card, the county auditor’s office quickly noticed.
The employee “was allowed to buy gasoline” with the credit card, Auditor Steve Weber said Tuesday, but was supposed to limit purchases to “the County Highway Department.” Instead, the employee twice filled up at a regular gas station.
Weber said the mistake was detected by an electronic interface between the credit card and the county, which he called the latest approach to government-issued credit cards. It finds deviations from the spending limits and types of purchases set for each card according to the employee’s function.
Weber told the County Board’s Finance Committee that Will had 30 authorized card users in 2005 and 62 so far this year. Thirty more await authorization. Financial transactions last year were $109,000, compared to $415,000 in the first five months of 2006. Officials attributed the marked increased in number of cards issued and transactions to the success of the program.
Cards vary by employee. For example, county Maintenance Department employees are able to buy items at hardware and building-supply stores but can’t buy gasoline. County Board members are issued cards that can buy only gasoline, Weber said. Every card is “hard coded” to prevent use at “casinos and strip joints,” he added.
Harris Bank also details, in writing, what each card purchased.
Matching the cards to individuals rather than departments increases accountability and enables the county to obtain $50,000 credit liability insurance on each card.
Calling the card system a “very powerful business tool,” he said it has cut related purchasing costs from $70 for a purchase order to $20 on average. Additionally, it has reduced the number of financial transactions. “We’re paying the bank instead of multiple vendors,” Weber said.
