SNOW HILL — An employee of the Greene County Department of Social Services was able to temporarily raise the limit on a county Visa credit card in order to make a purchase recently.
The bill on the card amounted to $6,543, pushing past the $5,000 limit.
The bank temporarily raised the limit to cover the purchase because the DSS employee, Lisa Pope, an administrative officer, was able to answer the security questions posed.
Interim County Manager Richard Hicks told commissioners on Monday night the employee raised the credit card limit without the finance officer or manager knowing about it. Neither did DSS Director Christy Nash.
However, the county had no policy on credit card use until Monday night when the commissioners approved a policy Hicks presented to them.
Nash said the purchase was an emergency that was fully reimbursable by Medicaid. The funds totaling $1,665 had been deposited, but were pending.
The incident occurred after 5 p.m. the day before a furlough day in May when a client had to travel two states away for specialized care when experiencing complications at home following surgery. The funds were used for travel, accommodations and food.
“I don’t know how she would have had any other option,” Nash said about Pope.
She added she likely would have done the same thing Pope did.
Nash said the bank allowed the transaction because the funds could be seen pending.
“Other than the employee not calling me so I’d know what was going on,” she said, “I don’t think there was any inappropriate conduct.”
The card already had $4,878 of purchases on it for the Month ending June 5. A previous purchase was made for an online order of incentives for potential adoptive parents. Nash said the monies had to be spent by the end of May or they wouldn’t have been able to purchase them.
Following the May bank bill arriving at the finance office, all the departments that had credit cards for Lowe’s, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and the Visa with First Citizen’s Bank, as well as cards for accounts with Staples and Dollar General, had to turn them in to the manager’s office.
“I haven’t been able to find out where any authorization was given by this board to open those cards,” Hicks told the board. “I suspect it’s probably in the finance officer or manager’s office.”
Hicks said he talked to Sharon Edmundson at the Local Government Commission, who suggested the county adopt a reasonably stringent credit card policy.
He presented a draft policy on credit card use, which the board unanimously approved.
“What we’re proposing to you,” Hicks said to the board, “is that we start with one credit card that will remain in the finance office, and it can be signed out — it can be utilized by staff members once they send the information to the finance office.”
The policy requires the departments to present their case before the board to request additional cards.
“A bank card or credit card is, again, a better opportunity for misuse,” he said. “I think they can be abused.”
The new policy states the commissioners will have “ultimate authority” when it comes to issuing any credit cards.
The manager and finance officer are the only ones that will have the right to change the monetary limit on the cards.
The board will need to set a specific limit on the card, Hicks said.
Cardholders won’t be allowed to split a purchase into multiple transactions on a single item to keep within the limit, and purchases must be pre-approved, the policy states.
Nash expressed concerns about how her staff will be able to pay for emergencies that occasionally happen after hours.
“If I have children come into custody after 5 o’clock,” she said, “how am I going to check out a credit card?”
Nash said she has paid for some items out-of-pocket when she knew she would be reimbursed.
“That’s just not right for our staff to have to do,” she said about paying out-of-pocket, “when our county is responsible.”
Hicks also mentioned a lack of purchase order use. The county has accounts set up with Dollar General and Staples, but it’s often easier for employees to use the credit card, Finance Officer Sandy Barss said.
“I had very few using a purchase order before using a credit card,” she said.
Hicks said even if an employee uses a credit card for purchases, they still need to get a purchase order if the cost exceeds $100.
Barss said cards used by former employees Chris Roberson and Don Davenport had been shredded when they left.
“If you operate year to year with credit cards,” Hicks said, “I think it becomes a matter of convenience for the staff. But you don’t want it to get out of hand. I think that’s sort of where we are now.”
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.