Administrator urges board to adopt county-wide signature-authority policy; commissioners schedule vote next week

County Administrator Brian Danzel on Oct. 24 asked the Franklin County Board of Commissioners to adopt a formal signature-authority resolution that would centralize and document who may sign contracts, grant applications and other binding county agreements.

Danzel told the board the measure, if adopted, would require documented board authorization in the minutes before a third party could rely on signatures as binding for the county. He cited state law in general terms to emphasize the board's exclusive authority over county funds and argued the policy would reduce litigation risk and improve audit defensibility.

The administrator also presented a second draft resolution that would prohibit informal interdepartmental fund transfers and the practice of "off-the-record" funding allocations that have previously made tracking of long-term obligations more difficult. Danzel argued the prohibition would help preserve reserves and the county's ability to manage the road fund and other statutorily restricted dollars.

Discussion and next steps: Commissioners said they supported the accountability goals and asked Danzel to put both documents on the consent agenda for next week's meeting so they could adopt them after review. Commissioner Baumann suggested distributing the drafts to all department heads and elected officials; Danzel said staff would do so.

Ending: The board agreed to place the signature policy and the interdepartmental-transfer prohibition on the agenda for the next regular meeting for action.