County Council shares peek into procurement, P-Card audit
On July 23, a previously held Special-Called Council Meeting revealed the audit report investigating issues related to purchasing and procurement. Following the County Administrator Eric Greenway’s termination in July 2023, an external law firm, Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, was roped in to dig deeper into procurement code and P-Card purchases.
Auditing Facts
The results? Well, nearly 80% of the contracts signed in 2023 – that’s 312 out of 392 – did not have to fight for their spot in a competitive bid process. These contracts, by the way, carried a collective worth of almost $13 million. The other 80 contracts were good boys; they totally incorporated the bidding process and a whopping total of over $85 million was spread around them. The report also shared data of county employees using P-Cards – they collectively managed to spend north of $6 million between 2019 to 2023.
Way to go!
What was interesting was the reason behind these so-called procurement and P-Card guideline irregularities – the report says it probably was down to “misfeasance rather than malfeasance, and no evidence of criminal activity has been discovered.” Now, that’s a relief! Missing out on competitive bidding does not seem to be so sinister after all.
Action Plan
The report puts forth an action plan, suggesting things for the new county administrator, Michael Moore, to roll out among county employees. What’s the plan? Making sure purchases have better documentation, fall within the County’s budget, are fair and reasonably priced, endorsed by a proper determination of a bidder’s response and responsibility, and putting heads together to negate erroneous justifications of non-competitive procedures. The county also plans to do a better job of encouraging smaller, disadvantaged businesses to bid. Frequent and robust training regarding the county’s procurement system is also on the cards.
P-Card Purchases
As for P-Card purchases, the report suggests the need to cut down on the number of users, enforce the requirement for authorized purchases and insist on proper documentation being attached to the payment request. The approval process, too, will see a change. Now, bosses won’t have subordinates authorizing their expenses and employees can’t authorize their own expenses anymore. The travel policies will be spruced up, so employees don’t end up staying in hotels or seeking meal reimbursements unless they travel a minimum distance from the county. This will help prevent abuse of loyalty points through travel programs. The county is also seeking a centralized purchasing policy for commonly used items at the workplace to ensure effective oversight.
Public Discussion
Not everyone was on board with these plans, though. Some Council members felt that these discussions should be held openly in public. A vote was held and even though Council members Tom Reitz, Paula Brown and David Bartholomew voted to hold the discussion in public, the motion was defeated by the majority. After the meeting, Council Chairman Joe Passiment clarified that the session was just to sort out grammar issues and to make the report more sensible and reader-friendly.
The End Game
At the end of the day, the report is just a stepping stone. It has thrown a spotlight on a few problematic issues and suggested a roadmap to address them. Now, it’s time for the County to swing into action to implement these changes. With these new measures in place, better transparency and efficiency in contract procedures and purchases are expected, which will be a boost to the County’s services and operations. That’s a win-win situation for all involved – the County council, Employees and the local community.”
