County approves duplicate credit card for departmental hotel reservations

Tammy Flater, the county Clerk of Court, asked the board for a county credit card to reserve hotel rooms and buy small items for her office instead of filing individual claims. She told commissioners the card would reduce repeated paperwork but warned that issuing cards broadly can create tracking and auditing challenges unless use is limited.

Flater said she had asked the county auditor for guidance and relayed the auditor's caution that multiple department cards often require extra bookkeeping and chasing receipts; she suggested restricting the card to hotel reservations if the board approved it. "D's going to need a credit card for reserving rooms and paying hotel rooms," she said.

After discussion, a commissioner moved to obtain a duplicate copy of the county credit card, the motion was seconded and the board approved it unanimously. The board discussed practical safeguards — limiting card use to reservations and requiring original receipts for reimbursement — and directed staff to arrange a duplicate card linked to the county account with procedures to track charges.

The approval follows commissioners' longstanding practice of retaining a single county credit account (the board noted the county credit line carries a roughly $20,000 limit) and assigning department-specific procedures for oversight. The board did not specify a named cardholder; staff will implement the duplicate card and return with any policy language or limits for formal adoption.