JONESBORO — In its regular meeting on April 4, the Clayton County Board of Commissioners removed an item from the agenda that would continue Phase 2 of an audit into travel and training expenditures for county employees.
In a Wednesday, April 11 interview, Commission Chair Jeff Turner said the county could continue the audit in the future, but right now the focus is on tightening travel and training expenditure policies.
In July of last year, an audit was completed and revealed more than $37,000 was paid for tuition and transcript fees to Vanderbilt University by former County Chief Financial Officer Ramona Bivins.
In June of last year, Bivins was fired by the Board of Commissioners by a vote of 3-2.
Commissioners approved Phase 2 of the audit, which looked into payments made to colleges, universities and institutes and travel and training expenses made by executive management, which includes the BOC and county department heads.
The audit also looked at transactions signed off by the county’s chief financial officer, chief operating officer and board chair.
In a pre-agenda meeting on April 4, Interim CFO Stacey Merritt told the board that the travel policy is being reviewed and updated and didn’t recommend a continuation of Phase 2.
Commission Vice Chair Felicia Franklin said fees paid for travel and education for county employees need to closely pertain to their employment and that residents will have to benefit from it.
She also stressed the need for proper invoices and check authorizations for payments.
“I think it’s going to streamline things,” she said of updates to the travel and expense policies.
In a related matter, the commission unanimously approved a resolution to allow for a second alternate county credit card account for training and travel.
Merritt said a second card is needed because there is only one card…
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