The Rockingham County Board of Commissioners on May 22 directed departments to stop issuing meal vouchers and to reduce catering and similar discretionary food expenses after staff reported rising invoices and a one‑time emergency food purchase needed to meet regulatory stock requirements at county facilities.

Commissioners said recent invoices from the county’s food service contractor, now operating under Whitson after a contract transition, showed higher charges than previously visible under Glendale’s billing practices. County staff told the board they had identified more than two dozen billing questions and were meeting with Whitson to reconcile charges. "We are getting rid of all the vouchers that we have. We're not gonna give out any budget. We're asking everybody to destroy the vouchers," a commissioner said during the meeting.

Staff explained two main factors behind higher near‑term costs: (1) the transition to new billing and staffing practices at the contracted vendor, which has caused higher line‑item labor and travel charges for temporary staff, and (2) one large, necessary purchase to meet regulatory emergency‑food stock requirements for the nursing home and corrections facilities. The purchase was described as necessary to satisfy regulators’ minimum emergency food stores in case of delivery interruptions; staff said that the buy was not elective but required for compliance.

Commissioners also discussed internal cost‑saving changes, including bringing more meeting day trips onto a county van and buying catering locally for some internal events. Finance staff and department heads said they were auditing invoices and would follow up with the vendor on 24 specific questions. The board said further budget planning should begin now for fiscal year 2027 to avoid last‑minute tax increases, and asked departments to identify revenue or efficiency options.

Decisions and follow‑up: The board’s immediate decisions were operational: cancel meal vouchers, stop discretionary catering where possible and require department heads to limit costs; staff will meet with Whitson to reconcile invoices and provide a list of outstanding questions. Commissioners said they would review fourth‑quarter numbers before proposing deeper budget changes and would use pilot purchasing options (including an Amazon Business program the county is exploring) to reduce supply costs going forward.

Ending: County officials said they will keep monitoring vendor invoices and return to the board with reconciliations and proposed budget options for FY2027.