What’s in Oneida County’s wallet?

Usually, when a story appears showing federal government waste or fraud, or potential government waste or fraud, that’s a signal to look at state and local governments to see if the same thing is happening there.

In February, for example, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) turned its attention to federal government credit cards, and, while the initial scrutiny didn’t turn up any obvious fraud, it indicated there was likely waste in administration.

DOGE’s subsequent audit of credit card use led to the cancellation of about 300,000 credit cards, as of this writing, mostly for being deemed unnecessary or because they had not been used. That’s a lot of wallets, but it’s only the tip of the plastic: DOGE estimates that the U.S. government currently has about 4.6 million active credit cards — 4.6 million! — which processed some 90 million unique transactions totaling about $40 billion in 2024.

DOGE and Musk now say they are working with agencies to simplify credit card programs and reduce administrative costs.

All of which begs the question, what about locally in Oneida County? Well, the best way to sum up Oneida County’s employee credit card use is — pretty much nothing to see here. 

Not that county employees don’t use government credit cards. They do, and some would say significantly so. On average, Oneida County employees charged just shy of $16,000 a month to county credit cards in 2024, according to a memo to the county’s executive committee from county finance director Tina Smigielski, and Smigielski was asking the committee to approve an increase in the county’s credit card line from $37,500 to $50,000. The committee did.

Such use is no surprise and it is not unique, if not as massive as on the federal level. Governments at all levels increasingly allow government employees to use the plastic for departmental needs. Smigielski told the The Lakeland Times this week that the use is for routine items such as information technology-related renewals and travel (hotel room stays), while some of the larger departments such as Human Services, Public Health, and Buildings & Grounds use the cards for supplies.

Most authorized users are elected officials or department heads. Nationally, finance experts say the increase in government credit card use does not reflect increased government spending or fraud or wasteful spending; rather, across the country the increased use of credit cards by government employees reflects society’s increased use of credit cards in general, while giving departments flexibility in small purchase items.

It’s that flexibility that moved Smigielski to request the credit line increase. In January and February of this year, she reported, the countywide monthly charges were $33,000 and $41,000 respectively, and Smigielski said she requested a temporary, five-day credit increase to $42,500 to allow IT renewals to be completed. 

At the February 27 executive committee meeting, Smigielski also said credit card use by county departments would continue to increase now that the county has added the Human Services Department. She also said technology vendors are moving to credit card or ACH payments only, the minutes of that meeting state.

Smigielski said the $12,500 overall credit line increase to $50,000 would help ensure that no one employee’s purchase would be declined when making a purchase. While each employee permitted to use a card has a much smaller individual limit for purchases, total purchases for the account — all cards are linked to the same account — could exceed the account credit line and result in a single transaction’s declination. 

The county exceeded the $37,500 maximum in January, Smigielski said.

IT director Jason Rhodes told the committee that, when other departments are at their limits, there are issues when his department is doing a Microsoft renewal because Microsoft only takes credit cards. Oneida County facilities director Lindsey Kennedy said some vendors use a credit card on file and do a deposit holding on that card.

Smigielski said Associated Bank, which holds the credit, has already indicated that the county’s credit line could increase to $50,000.

How it works

In 2021, Smigielski told the committee, the county joined the Associated Bank One program.

According to Associated Bank, that’s a “one card” program that combines purchasing, travel, and entertainment into a single card solution, streamlining payments and expense management for businesses. 

Specifically, the program is a corporate umbrella credit account, and within that structure individual cards are issued to cardholders. The program combines purchase card, travel card, and corporate card features into a single card and provides increased controls and efficiencies in managing expenses. It also has safety features, allowing businesses to manage spending controls, to apply restrictions, and to track card maintenance through an online portal, as well as offers enhanced data reporting, expense management, and transaction coding capabilities. 

According to the minutes of the February 27 meeting, Smigielski explained that before joining the program, only one credit card was issued and that was in the name of the finance director.

“Smigielski went over the rules of the program, explaining that there are now individual cards issued to cardholders,” the minutes state.

In her memo, Smigielski said cards are linked to the county’s information so no personal information, such as social security numbers, are required of the card holder, and the card is limited in types of purchases by single purchase maximums and by SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) codes, which are used to identify the main business activity of a company. 

Cardholders are required to sign an agreement, Smiglieski added in her memo to the committee, and the finance department establishes the card holder account via secure Associated Bank portal. 

“The Finance Department is the authorized administrator and can place any card on hold, cancel, and modify single purchase limits,” the memo states. “The Finance Department downloads the statement monthly and processes payment via miViewPoint to Associated Bank to pay off the card in full.”

Then, the memo continues, each card holder’s transactions are debited to the central purchasing line item of their department. 

“The card holder then submits via miViewPoint journal entry receipts for each transaction which is audited by a member of the finance team,” the memo states. “This journal entry moves the individual expenses to specific line items within the department’s budget. Failure to timely submit receipts and/or follow the card holder agreement may result in the termination of the card by the finance director.”

As of February 27, the county’s credit line had 21 card holders, one of whom has since left employment. As might be expected, IT director Jason Rhodes had the county’s largest individual line of credit at $20,000. Lindsey Kennedy, buildings and grounds, had the second largest at $10,000. Public Health’s Katherine McGeshick had a $7,600 card max, veterans’ Tammy Javenkoski had $5,000, as did county clerk Tracy Hartman, while human resources director Lisa Charbarneau had $4,000. Human Services’ Heidi Chavez had $3,000; her colleague Joel Gottsacker had $2,500.

The following employees all had $1,500 credit card lines: Brenda Behrle, clerk of courts; Sara Chiamulera, land information; Linda Conlon, public health; Mike Fugle, corporation counsel; Alexander Hegeman, highway; Lisa Jolin, solid waste; Jennifer Lueneburg, human resources; Taisha Koster, human resources; Jillian Pfeifer, district attorney; Michele Sadauskas, land conservation; Tanya Tischendorf, forestry; and Jessica Young, UW Extension.

Richard Moore is the author of “Dark State” and may be reached at richardd3d.substack.com.