County program working better

Clark County is more efficiently using its purchasing card program — which allows departments to make small purchases without prior approval — than it has in the past, according to the county Auditor’s Office.

The purchasing cards, which were introduced in 2009, are used for making transactions of less than $2,500 without prior approval. A Public Works crew whose tools break, for example, can run to the store for a replacement and get back to work without waiting for someone to approve the purchase, Performance Auditor Larry Stafford said.

“The primary benefit of a purchase card is the speed, the efficiency with which a purchase can be paid,” Stafford said.

A 2013 audit of the program found the program was mostly positive, but monitoring and controls of the program could be improved. The audit also found one fraudulent purchase of a gift card, which are not permitted under the program.

However, by using online banking systems through U.S. Bank, which issues the cards, the county has improved its oversight of spending, according to this year’s report of 2014 spending. The county also has blocked all transactions made outside the U.S., preventing fraudulent transactions made overseas.

There is, however, still room to grow, Stafford said. In 2014, the county used the purchasing cards for $770,000 worth of transactions. The original 2013 audit, meanwhile, found more than $3.5 million in transactions that were small enough to be made with a purchase card but weren’t. Using the cards more freely could save significant county time, Stafford said.