Catoosa County has formally adopted a new state legislated policy regarding county employees and county-issued credit cards. The new policy features stricter guidelines and restrictions for the cards’ use, as well as mandated oversight within the county government.
The Georgia Legislature passed the policy back in July 2015, and any county that wished to be able to authorize credit cards for governmental use had to approve the resolution.
Catoosa County Attorney Chad Young said he doesn’t expect the resolution to affect the day-to-day business of the county too much.
“Even before the ordinance was adopted, the county already had in place a card policy that governed county employees that weren’t elected,” explained Young. “The law they passed told us to do what we were already doing.”
Local officials say Catoosa County employees with county-issued cards have not used them often, primarily using them for paying for supplies and food for training events. In Young’s words, there definitely haven’t been any “horror stories” about spending, and it is “pretty rare” the cards get used.
Other examples for card use include paying for food or hotels for training workshops for county employees or attending a convention in the county’s name.
Specifically, the new resolution mandates that county employees pay a late charge if they turn the tickets for their charges on the card in late, or if they lack an official invoice for the charges. Furthermore, each elected official has to sign a user agreement with the county stating that he or she understands and will follow the rules and limitations when using the card. The card can be confiscated if the official is found to have broken the rules he or she agreed to.
Young said Catoosa County has never had a problem with county-issued cards in his 18 years of serving as a county attorney. He believes a reported serious misuse of a credit card by an elected official in Metro Atlanta spurred the Legislature to make the new mandates.
“This won’t create any extra legwork for the [Catoosa] county employees,” said Young. “I believe we’re already good stewards of the taxpayers’ money, so this won’t be an issue.”
To that end, he said, the council did not mind approving the credit card resolution.
“We’ve got no qualms with the state mandate,” said Young. “All our elected officials were on board. For us, this is more a change in form, not substance.”