State Auditor to speak

to Harrison County Commission

Who:

Glen B. Gainer III, WV State Auditor
Jack Berry, Director of Local Government Programs (Purchasing Card Division)

What:

Auditor Gainer will visit the Harrison County Commission to speak about the passage of House Bill 4121 authorizing local government adoption of the state purchasing card (P-Card) program.

When:

Thursday, March 27, 2008: 10:00 AM

Where:

Harrison County Commission

Why:

House Bill 4121 (HB4121), sponsored by Delegates Fragale, DeLong, Boggs, Barker and Eldridge created the Local Government Purchasing Card Program. This legislation garnered strong support from counties and municipalities as smaller government entities sought the efficiencies, cost savings, rebates and vendor satisfaction observed by statewide government agencies now utilizing the P-Card program.

According to the State Auditor’s latest annual report, for Fiscal Year 2007, the state Purchasing Card program processed 557,000 transactions totaling $181,000,000, with an average transaction amount of $325.26. Industry standards show that each transaction using the P-Card saves at least $50.00 over the legacy paper-based purchasing system.

Some of the county and local government benefits created by the passage of HB 4121 include:

Elimination of the paper-based purchasing system for small purchases
Automated management reports allow for easier spend analysis
Large and small vendors accepting “Visa” purchases are more likely to participate in government commerce
Vendors receive payment in 3 business days versus 60-90 days
Participating agencies pay monthly, card holders receive monthly statements
Rebates included in legislation
Protections include: Fraud monitoring / Visa liability waiver program / training
Reduction in warehousing of paper documents as well as computer aided auditing

HB 4121 passed on March 8, 2008 and will take effect in ninety days.

Release Date: March 25, 2008
Contact Justin Southern via email at justin.southern@wvsao.gov or by phone: 304.558.2251.