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Clerk and finance director urge county to adopt comptroller guidance on pennies
Summary
Clerk Tammy Sawyer and Fenton Wright (finance director) told commissioners that adopting a county-wide round-up/round-down policy consistent with comptroller guidance could reduce cashier delays and losses tied to penny handling, especially given Shelby County's high share of unbanked residents.
Tammy Sawyer, general sessions court clerk, returned to the committee to reiterate the county's options on accepting pennies in cash transactions. She said the comptroller has issued guidance allowing counties to adopt round-up/round-down rules so cash receipts can be recorded in whole cents without requiring pennies in daily transactions.
"If we are going to have a round up-round down policy, the guidance...is if it's below 4¢ it's 0, if it's 5¢ or higher it's a dime," Sawyer said, explaining how the rounding would be handled at the cashier level. Fenton Wright, director of finance for the clerk's office, said many customers pay with cash and that lack of exact change delays transactions and sometimes prevents customers from paying in person.
Sawyer and Wright warned that because Shelby County has a high rate of unbanked households, any policy should be county-wide so different offices’ receipts remain auditable. The committee voted to forward a resolution requesting legislative action and authorizing advocacy regarding pennies with a favorable recommendation (4 ayes, 1 abstain).
