VINEMONT — The Vinemont Town Council approved a pair of policy updates to provide select employees access to use newly implemented fuel and credit cards Tuesday, Sept. 10.
Mayor Radginal Dodson said the implementation of the fuel cards will save the town roughly $1 per gallon in delivery fees for fuel the town uses in its fleet of mowers and maintenance vehicles. Currently, the town has fuel delivered to a municipal tank which employees are able to access.
Town Clerk Kayecea Sasser said the new fuel cards will be linked to specific vehicles and equipment and that employees will only be able to access the cards by entering assigned PIN numbers into a lockbox. Employees will also be responsible for turning in receipts for fuel purchases as well as entering the vehicle’s mileage — hours of use counts in the case of equipment — into a regularly monitored log.
The implementation of individual credit cards was a precautionary measure Sasser said. Currently, the town uses a debit card account for online purchases and to book lodging for events such as out-of-town training conferences. Sasser said using a credit account for these purchases would likely create more of a buffer between potentially fraudulent activity and the town’s actual funds.
“We would like to eliminate some of the debit card usage so that there is a barrier between our bank account,” Sasser said.
Councilmembers will still have access to the existing debit account for smaller purchases such as food and supplies for local events.
The council approved to issue three individual cards to Sasser, Dodson and Public Works director Mike Graves. Each of the cards will have a $1,500 spending limit.
Councilmember Bonnie Goodwin cast a dissenting vote on the policy due to her belief that the spending limit was too high.
The council also placed a portion of its General Fund account into a certificate of deposit account in an effort to recoup recent declines in the town’s sales tax revenue.
“We’ve lost 12 percent in sales tax, this isn’t much, but it’s a little bit,” councilmember Chris Thompson said. “This will give us a band-aid on that.”
Thompson motioned to increase the proposed amount from $100,000 to $200,000 which was approved by all apart from Dodson.
In other business the council:
— Proclaimed September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.
— Approved to drop its local government health insurance for elected officials.
— Vetoed a proposal for communication software from TextMyGov.
— Approved to surplus a Mule (ATV).