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Consent-General Government # 11.
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| Board of Supervisors |
Financial Services |
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| Subject |
| Receive and file the Department of Financial Services annual report on purchase card transactions for 2016-17. (No general fund impact) (Newens) |
| Recommended Action |
| Receive and file the Department of Financial Services annual report on purchase card transactions for fiscal year 2016-17. |
| Strategic Plan Goal(s) |
Operational Excellence
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| Reason for Recommended Action/Background |
The Purchase Card program has been successfully utilized by the County since 1995 and is a recognized method of streamlining the purchase process for lower cost items. The County participates in the State of California's Cal-Card Program, adopted by the Board of Supervisors on March 25, 2003. The Purchase Card policy directs the Chief Financial Officer to file an annual report including the purchase card limits for each department head, elected official or equivalent, the total number of cards in use by department, the volume of transactions both in number and amount and other information relative to the effectiveness of the purchase card program. Such report is submitted herein as Att. A - Purchase Card Summary.
Overall the volume of purchase cards in the County has grown since the previous year to 197 cardholders from 194 cardholders. This is a small increase of 1.5% but the when compared to funded positions of 1,520 in the recommended budget represents that approximately 13% of County positions have a purchase card. The total transactions has grown from 8,796 to 9,038 amounting to approximately 2.75% increase. As in the past, the County continues to receive rebates from the Cal-card program based on the total amount of purchase; in 2016-17, the County earned rebate of $27,925, representing a dividend of 1.75% of amount of purchase.
The policy also directs the Chief Financial Officer to perform compliance audits, on a rotating basis, in order to determine the adequacy of internal controls and appropriate applications of the controls within the departments. The last formal purchase card audit was issued in 2008. Since then, due to limited audit resources, continuous transaction review has been done by Accounting staff as time permits. The review of the Elections Division revealed weaknesses in the purchase card program. As a result, the Department of Financial Services updated the County's purchase card policy in February, 2017. Currently Accounting staff overseeing the purchase card program are focusing on enhancing the accountability of purchase cards through the updating of the purchase card manual and performing continuous monitoring and selective card limits. |
| Collaborations (including Board advisory groups and external partner agencies) |
| None. |
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| Fiscal Impact |
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