BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
STARKE — Bradford County’s administrators and finance staff are starting the fiscal year with new rules and procedures to better control spending.
Commissioners have made it clear they don’t want to end another year in the red, having spent more than the county brought in. Several years of doing so has significantly impacted general fund reserves.
County Attorney Will Sexton told commissioners Oct. 4 that, per their request, more departmental purchases will be brought to them for approval. That includes purchases that under the current policy do not require. formal advertisement. Purchases under $25,000 only require that department heads seek verbal or written quotes.
Even when there are exceptions to the policy because of state contract pricing or sole source vendors, commissioners want to endorse those purchases only after confirming their necessity.
“I want you to know that in the conversations I’ve had with you individually, you seem to indicate — and understandably so — that you want that to be a meaningful review of those purchases so that it occurs prior to when the vendor actually gets engaged,” Sexton said.
Previously when commissioners were reviewing the bills before approving them at each meeting, they were sometimes approving purchases that had already been made. In some cases, the merchandise was already in hand.
To improve responsibility and transparency, department heads will now be asked to bring a purchase planned in December before the board for approval in November, for example.
“That’s going to slow down some purchases, and we’re going to have to figure that out as we go,” Sexton said. “There’s a lot of things that need to get purchased with less than 30 days’ notice. If that happens, we’re going to I think on a case-by-case basis have to look at that.”
Curtailing emergency purchases to those that truly qualify instead of using emergencies to get around the process is another goal.
The board has also requested that purchase orders be required for more expenditures. Clerk of Court Denny Thompson said he is lowering the threshold requiring purchase orders from $1,000 to $500. Thompson said when he worked in finance for the sheriff’s office, all expenditures over $100 required purchase orders.
Detailed monthly spending reports will be a part of future meetings, beginning with the Oct. 21 meeting. Sexton said the board won’t have to depend on an annual audit to see where the county stands financially.
Sexton said the tradeoff for the additional oversight will be longer meetings to have these discussions. Department heads will also have to become accustomed to scheduling these discussions to receive advanced purchasing approval.
After a long and delayed budget approval process, Sexton previously pledged to the board there would be no more business as usual going forward.
Commissioners stick by 3% raise
There was some discussion about how an approved 3% pay raise for board employees would be distributed.
Commission Chairman Chris Dougherty said, and Sexton confirmed, that despite what had been said in prior discussions, some employees have received more money in recent years.
While Sexton said 2015 was the last time the commission budgeted for an across-the-board raise, employees who have been promoted, taken on additional duties, or improved their knowledge or skillset. These raises were paid for out of department budgets through cost savings and hiring freezes.
That included Sexton and his administrative assistant, who were both given raises when the commission decided against hiring a new county manager and instead split those responsibilities between the two.
Dougherty didn’t think those who have seen their pay go up should receive the full 3%.
Commissioner Carolyn Spooner drew a distinction between merit raises and a cost-of-living adjustment, which the board has not budgeted for in years. Most commissioners were not inclined to go back on their promise after voting to include the money for the raise in this year’s budget.
“We voted to give everybody a 3% across-the-board raise, and I hate to take it back now,” Commissioner Danny Riddick said.
Commissioner Diane Andrews agreed.
“I mean, it’s been a very difficult thing. A lot of feelings have been hurt. People got angry. I just think that to be fair, and just to be honest, to put this behind us, that we stick with the 3%,” she said.
Franchise fee discussions continue
Andrews asked about progress with Clay Electric and an electrical franchise fee the board has discussed. While Florida Power and Light was willing to cooperate, Clay Electric indicated it would prefer its customers be involved that decision.
Sexton said he had scheduled a meeting with Clay Electric to discuss proceeding with a public meeting for those customers, with time for Bradford County to present its case in favor of the fee.
If not a meeting, then the county hopes to be able to include information in customers’ bills asking them to support a franchise fee.
One point commissioners would like to make is that franchise fee revenue would allow them to reduce the amount of special assessments for firefighting and emergency medical services, which have also been discussed.
In other business:
—Spooner requested the board schedule a workshop to discuss the county’s strategic plans beyond its plans for controlling the budget. An hour will be scheduled for that discussion at the board’s Nov. 1 meeting.
—there was consensus among most commissioners to move meetings back to the boardroom at the courthouse. The board temporarily moved meetings back to the conference center to allow for social distancing with COVID-19 cases began spiking.
—the public works department was thanked for its emergency work on Southeast 17th Avenue. According to Dougherty, the road was in bad shape and a large transport truck would have caused a collapse.
Public Works Director Jason Dodds also reported that preconstruction work is scheduled to begin on Southeast 49th Avenue in Hampton on Oct. 12.
