Policy Text
Page 1 of 4 1/27 (REV 6/13)
Use of County Funds for Employee Recognition Award, Food/Refres hments and
Related Expenses
The Purpose of this General Order i s to set forth policy guidel ines and limitations
pertaining to the use of county funds for employee recognition awards, food /
refreshments and facility rental charges that are business rela ted.
I. Approving Officials Defined
Approving officials for the pur pose of this order specifically refer to the:
A. Sheriff B. Undersheriff A signature list of Authorized offi cials with approval authorit y will be provided
separately to the Director of F inance, Auditor-Controller Divis ion, annually on or
before July 15
th, with updates as necessary.
II. Conditions of Use
Authorization is given to ex pend County funds for employee reco gnition awards,
food purchases, food related purc hases and facility rental char ges that are
business related, subject to the following conditions:
A. Sheriff’s Department Appr oving Officials/employees are not authorized to
sign or enter into contract agr eements on behalf of the Departm ent for
catering or facility rentals. C ontract requests of this type a re
accomplished either by a purchas e order requisition through Cou nty
Purchasing or by a Resolution th rough the Board of Supervisors upon
approval by the Sheriff or Undersheriff.
B. See V below.
III. Employee/Non-Employ ee Recognition Awards
A. All expenditures for Recogni tion Awards shall have an IDC di rected
through the Chain-of-Command for the Sheriff or Undersheriff’s signature
and pre-approved before any award is ordered
B. Employee/Non-Employee recogn ition award purchases must be bu siness
related and presented to the Empl oyee/Non-Employee recipient as a
Page 2 of 4 1/27 (REV 6/13) direct result of exceptional acts worthy of commendation. Coun ty policy
dictates that award items will be of “nominal value”, not to ex ceed $100 in
value. For specifics regarding the Sheriff’s Commendation and Awards
Program refer to G eneral Order 1/07.
IV. Employee/Non-Employee Recogn ition awards will be charged to the following
accounts:
AWARDS GL ACCOUNT
Employee Awards P rogram 20203801
Non-Employee Awards Program 20203802
V. Food, Refreshment, Business Meal Purchases
A. All food, refreshment and f ood related purchases for Departm ent
sponsored events shall have an I DC directed through the Chain-o f-
Command for the Sheriff or Unders heriff’s signature and pre-app roved
before any food/refreshment is ordered/purchased.
B. All Business Meal expenses s hall be pre-approved by the Sher iff or
Undersheriff by submitting an I DC outlining the business purpos e of the
meeting including the organization(s) involved.
1. If any parties in attendance are not County employees, then the
IDC MUST also contain a statement t hat this was a large-scale
event designed to promote the C ounty, or that the parties in
attendance are with a County aff iliate and also include the spe cific
promotion and/or affiliation.
2. Any claim that does not incl ude this statement will be retur ned to
the Department submitting the claim.
3. It should be noted that the Count y must always receive some
tangible benefit from the expense .
FOOD/REFRESHMENT PURCHASES GL ACCOUNT
Recognition Events 20203803
Catering/Food Services for Events 20203805
Meetings associated with community
based/department sponsored events 20203806
Business lunches or dinners 20203807
V. Facility Rental Charges
A. All Facility Rental char ges/contracts will be pre-approved in writing by the
Sheriff or Undersheriff for Depar tment sponsored events only.
Page 3 of 4 1/27 (REV 6/13) Facility rental charges for appr oved departmental events will b e charged to the
following accounts:
FACILITY RENTALS GL ACCOUNT
Business Meetings/Activities 20203803
Awards Functions 20203803
Academy Graduations 20203803
Other Department Spons ored Events 20203803
VII. Budgeting Responsibility
It shall be the Division Budget C oordinator’s responsibility t o ensure that specific
amounts for anticipated expendi tures of this type are included in the annual
budget for their fund centers. T his will be accomplished throu gh completion and
submission of budget form num ber 20203800 as par t of the annual budget
preparation process. Any over-e xpenditure of these accounts wi ll be financed
from other general ledger acc ounts within that budget unit.
VIII. Methods of Payment
Payments for the purchases in the authorized categories that h ave been pre-
approved and signed by the Sheri ff or Undersheriff shall be cha rged to the
appropriate GL account number listed next to the corresponding event. The
established procedures for payment s shall be accomplished as id entified below:
A. Payment to Vendors
The steps listed below are to be followed to initiate payment t o vendors.
1. Generate a Compass purchas ing document (CSO, DPO or PO)
prior to an item being ordered . The item being purchased will
usually dictate the appropriate document to use