Commissioners begin multi-policy update; staff to refine cash, cellphone, voucher and travel policies

The Board of County Commissioners held a policy workshop Thursday and directed staff to review and return with proposed language on a number of county policies.

Staff told commissioners they will update the cash and revenue policy to reflect current practice and remove outdated mandatory language requiring immediate implementation. They also recommended adjusting language on daily deposits for remote offices so deposits can be made "as soon as practical" instead of daily when that is not feasible.

On cell phones, Thomas Johnson, the county's IT director, recommended county-owned devices for employees who handle county data and systems: "the best way to keep the capabilities and information secure on devices are if the county owns those devices," he said. Commissioners discussed the current $25-per-month reimbursement option for employees who use personal phones for county business and asked staff to coordinate with IT to produce a recommended policy.

Commissioners also questioned whether the county manager's office needs to perform a line-by-line weekly voucher review in addition to accounting's processes; staff said accounting already performs multiple reviews and that the county manager's office typically reviews departmental check registers and flags anomalies before packets go to the board.

Other items for staff follow-up included clarifying travel-advance rules and the county's allowance policy for small employee recognitions and response to exceptional circumstances. The board asked staff to consolidate overlapping language between the travel, credit-card and purchasing policies and return with recommended edits.