Commissioners revoke credit cards

County workers will have to put travel charges on their personal credit card and seek reimbursement.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Starting April 1, Mahoning County employees can no longer use county issued credit cards for work-related travel expenses.
That's no April Fools' joke.
County commissioners today revoked all county credit cards for travel at the end of this month. Instead, employees who make work-related trips will have to charge the costs to their personal credit card and submit a bill to the county for reimbursement.
The change was recommended by county administrator Gary Kubic, who spent several weeks last year researching how other counties pay for employee travel expenses.
Kubic looked at credit card policies in Hamilton, Franklin and Montgomery counties because they are similar in size to Mahoning. He found that those counties use a priority reimbursement system instead of credit cards.
Under the system: Under a priority reimbursement system, employee travel reimbursement bills are processed quickly so the employee gets his or her money back within 30 days, allowing their personal credit card bill to be paid on time.
Kubic said that's how Mahoning County will operate now. Commissioners David Ludt, Ed Reese and Vickie Allen Sherlock have all said they favor such a policy.
The policy was changed because of questions that arose last year about Sherlock possibly using a county credit card for personal expenses.
She has since paid back all the money, including charges that were allowable under Ohio law for her trips to Cincinnati and Marietta.
The Ohio Auditor's Office is looking into the matter but has not yet issued a report. Spokeswoman Kim Norris said she is not sure when the report will be ready.
"Because of what happened last year in our office, we need to establish credibility again with the public," Reese said. "This is the best way to do it."
He favors reviewing the policy at the end of the year to see if it's working.
Gas: The new policy will allow credit cards to be used for gasoline purchases, but only by departments responsible for public safety and only in emergency situations.
Gas credit cards will be issued only to the affected officeholder and will be restricted to a single vendor, Kubic said. Elected officials can ask commissioners to pass a resolution adding certain employees to the list of people allowed to use the card.
Commissioners will review and renew all gasoline cards every six months, Kubic said.
bjackson@vindy.com