The City of Martinsville has implemented new purchase card and travel/training policies, with more policy updates expected in the coming weeks.
The changes went into effect Aug. 1. Acting City Manager and Police Chief Rob Fincher said the city is reviewing all of its policies and employee manual to determine what needs to be updated.
“It’s been a while since it’s been updated, and so it’s time,” Fincher said. “We do a regular routine review of all policies.”
A group of city employees reached out to other localities to compare practices. Fincher said they prioritized the purchase card and travel/training policies first, because those were the ones that came under scrutiny and drew the most public attention.
“What better way to help reestablish trust than to set out, modify our policies, put them in place, and make certain that people adhere to them,” he said. “That increases professionalism and trust all the way around.”
Fincher noted that Martinsville and Henry County’s sheriff’s offices and police departments already have regular policy review processes, and that “there’s no such thing as a perfect policy. It has to be continually reviewed and updated. So, although we just enacted these, I’m sure there may be some additional changes.
“These will probably be updated again. As we go along, we find out, ‘Hey, this form doesn’t work well. Let’s switch this form up,’” he said.
Fincher said the policy revisions were a request from city employees.
Work on the new policies began about a month ago, during Fincher’s first stint as acting city manager. After returning to the position in late July, he said he pushed to get them finalized.
“It was something that was started before, but one thing I’ve found with any type of” project “is if you don’t set deadlines, you could be working on something forever and never get anything accomplished,” he said.
From now on, Fincher plans to have policies reviewed weekly. The Freedom of Information Act policy was scheduled for review last week.
“Setting up a regular review schedule helps ensure things get done,” he said.
Under the city’s charter, council does not vote on policy changes unless they relate to budget or oversight issues. Most administrative matters fall under the purview of the city manager.
“They don’t actually have a direct hand in day-to-day operations. They appoint the city manager, but it’s the manager who oversees day-to-day operations,” Fincher said. “It’s up to the city manager, in this case acting city manager, to approve the policy.
When a future city manager takes the helm, “or let’s say the city manager returns and doesn’t like the policy, then they can approve to make changes,” Fincher said. “But I have a feeling that everyone would be in agreement that these are good policies.”
Policy Changes
The revised purchase card policy sets clear guidelines on what the card can and cannot be used for, requires receipts for all purchases, and holds cardholders responsible for reimbursing the city if receipts aren’t submitted.
“There has to be preauthorization and an approval process in place,” Fincher said.
The updated travel and training policy also requires preapproval, and aligns with the General Services Administration (GSA) guidelines.
The GSA is “a guide that the government puts out” that details “how much you should be spending on meals and incidentals each day. Also, the amount that should be spent on hotel rooms, that sort of stuff. But also, there’s this preapproval process before someone even goes to training,” he said, adding that in Martinsville, “there’s now a preapproval process before someone even goes to training.”
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