The Colusa City Council on Tuesday could approve the application for a new credit card to allow greater spending limits for staff purchases, but allows the citys finance director to tighten some restrictions on what the cards can be used for.
The action, put on the consent calendar as routine business (that which requires no discussion), authorizes Finance Director Ishrat Aziz-Khan to apply for new city credit cards through Tri-County Bank, with a total spending limit of $40,000.
Currently, the City of Colusa has credit cards issued from Bank America, with a spending limit of $30,000, which was exceeded in just a 30-day period, largely for expenses for the Economic Development/Tourism department. Bank of America charges totaling $33,695.07 appeared on the July 8 bank statement.
Aziz-Khan, in a staff report, said the current Bank of America credit cards also still list employees who have retired as active account holders.
Aziz-Khan, if the City Council approves the policy, is also named as manager for who will be issued a card, although the city has routinely given cards to all department heads, including the city manager, community development director, police chief, fire chief, ect.
The proposed credit card policy is a substantial deviation of the current policy, which only allows for small and emergency use only, although it did not define a limit.
The only restrictions previously were that it could not be used for alcohol, services, or cash advances.
Although the new policy proposes to allow employees up to $5,000 per transaction, including tax; maximum of $10,000 per 30 days per card; and a maximum of $25,000 per vendor per year, the new policy does state that use is not intended to ” replace effective procurement planning” or ” circumvent procurement regulations.
The policy also recommends, ” The least expensive product that meets your needs should be sought.
The policy lists a number of new card uses, such as supplies, books, services, and equipment that do not exceed the $5,000 transaction limit. The policy also lists a number of new restrictions, such as personal purchases, gambling, and political organizations, etc. which would be typical for taxpayer-funded expenses; however, it removes alcohol from being a restricted purchase. –