The Culver Town Council members heard a presentation from Katie Aeschliman from BMO Harris Bank out of Indianapolis concerning the procurement card program.
In this program, the town could be issued credit cards with limits on them to be used to purchase items which would be monitored by Clerk-Treasurer Karen Heim. Cards could be checked out for certain purposes and then returned. The online monitoring feature allows the cards to be activated for a certain limit and then deactivated once the purchase is made, if desired. They can be customized to fit the needs of the town.
The main thing for which the MasterCards would be the most useful is the booking of rooms for conferences and allowance for meals during business-related trips for employees. A lot of times several checks have to be issued for the purpose and Heim said there is a guess at how much money is needed.
Aeschliman noted that there is no annual fee for the card and each card created is free. There is a certain percentage of rebate given back to the town if the claims are paid within a set amount of time.
She commented that using PCards helps vendors as they see payments for items more quickly than having to wait for 30 days in some cases for a municipality’s claims process.
The council members seemed in favor of the proposal. An agreement or resolution is expected to be presented at the next meeting on Tuesday, July 9.
