Commissioners direct formation of finance subcommittee to overhaul procurement and credit-card policies

Clallam County commissioners and senior staff spent an extended portion of the Jan. 6 work session discussing recurring problems with procurement rules, credit-card use, thresholds for department authority and the administrative burden created when policies are not followed.

Commissioners, the auditor and the treasurer described incidents where county credit cards were used in ways that later required corrective steps, and they outlined the limits that currently exist: department heads have authority for certain-dollar approvals, credit-card single-transaction limits sit below some procurement thresholds, and policy complexity sometimes leaves employees or departments uncertain how to proceed. Staff described a recent incident that resulted in suspension of credit-card use by a department while the matter is resolved.

Participants agreed to treat the issue as a program-level policy project rather than a single policy tweak. The Board directed creation of a subcommittee of the existing county finance committee to draft a problem statement, identify high-volume departments and stakeholders, and propose prioritized policy changes and training. The proposed structure discussed at the meeting called for co-chairs from the auditor’s office, the treasurer’s office and the commissioners’ office; staff suggested an initial target to present a draft problem statement to the finance committee’s Jan. 23 meeting and to convene a broader stakeholder process thereafter.

Ending: Commissioners and staff asked department heads to identify representatives for the work group; staff said the county will coordinate meetings and bring draft recommendations through the finance committee before any final policy changes are adopted by the board.