County controller proposes package of administrative policy changes on assets, p-cards, phones, travel and procurement

At the Feb. 17 work session, County Controller Scott Park presented a multi-part policy package he said aims to modernize Davis County's administrative practices and reduce unnecessary work.

On asset management, Park proposed raising the capital-asset equipment threshold from $5,000 to $10,000 and increasing the building and land improvement threshold from $5,000 to $50,000. He said the change would reduce the number of tracked assets and administrative burden and estimated historically this could have reduced the asset count by about 40% and book value by roughly 3%.

Regarding alcohol purchases, Park said the drafted policy would require approval by both the department administrative officer and the liaison commissioner rather than allowing an elected official to approve purchases alone.

On purchase cards, Park recommended allowing p-cards to be used when vendors cannot remove sales tax at the register but to code those transactions separately so the county can recover the tax on the back end, a process he said would save staff time over pursuing small refunds.

Park proposed simplifying the county's cell-phone allowance structure from many tiers to two non-taxable options: $30 for voice and $60 for voice and data, with departments required to document business need for each position. He said current payroll-tax practices would change under the proposed plan and estimated administrative savings; Park cited a current inventory of allowances (examples given in discussion included 72 staff with allowances totaling about $273,000 in one remark and another phrasing noted roughly $135,000 annually in another reference) and said the proposed approach could save tens of thousands of dollars annually if applied consistently.

On transportation, he outlined consolidating five reimbursement categories into three — mileage reimbursement for occasional use, a vehicle allowance for routine local travel (a proposed 60-mile radius), and assigned fleet vehicles where positions require daily use or emergency response — and discussed treating some allowances as compensation for tax and reporting clarity.

Chris (procurement) presented an interim resolution that would authorize the purchasing manager to choose among statutory procurement methods (three-quote, request-for-proposals, cooperative purchasing, approved vendor lists, etc.) for purchases above $5,000 until a revised purchasing policy is adopted; the stopgap would require documentation of the chosen method and periodic reporting to the commission.

Commissioners broadly supported Park's approach and asked that redline drafts be circulated to administrative officers (AOs) for feedback before formal commission consideration.

Next steps: controller will draft the redline policies and present them to AOs, then return to the commission with final drafts and the procurement stopgap resolution for public action.