Finance committee backs revisions to City of Franklin purchasing-card policy

At a Finance Committee meeting, members voted to recommend revisions to the City of Franklin purchasing-card (P-card) policy intended to tighten controls, reduce sales-tax losses and fraud risk, and allow limited flexibility for certain online purchases.

The proposed changes, put forward by Danielle (Director of Finance and Treasurer), would increase controls on card use, require better documentation for tax-exempt purchases, create a single control point for onboarding new vendors, and add an escalation path for approvals when the mayor cannot be reached.

Committee members said the issue matters because small-dollar transactions done by card can add up to meaningful budget leakage through sales tax or weak controls, while the current check system remains costly. Danielle told the committee the city's P-card program "has been in place since June of 2015" and that the program currently yields a 1% annual rebate from U.S. Bank.

Key details and committee discussion

- Current limits and use:…