Davis County to adopt financial reporting software, piloting purchasing card and on‑call vendor lists

At a 20‑minute June 30 work session, Davis County Controller Scott Park briefed commissioners on three administrative initiatives intended to speed financial reporting and procurement: a financial reporting software purchase, a county purchasing card program, and on‑call vendor lists for engineering, architecture and small construction projects.

"Right now our financial statements are prepared. We have an employee who spends an awful lot of time using Word and Excel and compiling this document," Park said, arguing the reporting software will improve speed, consistency and quality. He added that when a similar tool was used elsewhere it "cut about 80% of the preparation time."

Park said the software will be funded from reductions the commission made in the prior budget cycle and that a vendor under a state or cooperative contract offering the best price was selected. On a proposed purchasing card, Park said the county negotiated rebate incentives and an app to capture receipts and approvals at point of purchase. "So they paid us $18,000 a year to use their software," Park said of the rebate arrangement as an example of vendor value.

County staff described an on‑call vendor list for civil engineers already through an RFP process and noted forthcoming on‑call architect and contractor lists for smaller projects (feasibility studies, master plans, parking‑lot rehabilitation). The lists are meant to function like cooperative contracts but allow departments to issue purchase orders and task orders quickly without repeated full RFP cycles.

Commissioners asked whether the county would rely on state cooperative/job‑order contracting (which staff said can limit competition through Gordian Group rules) or pursue its own contracts to reduce fees and broaden competition. Chair John Krause asked staff to check with the Emergency Operations Center about disaster response contractors; staff said they would follow up.

Park said the Wells Fargo purchasing‑card contract and the financial reporting tool will be brought forward as contracts in coming weeks once attorneys finish review; on‑call civil engineer contracts were said to be coming in the next week or two, with architects and contractor lists later in the year.

Next steps: staff will finalize contract terms with the purchasing‑card vendor, complete procurement for the reporting software, and follow up on EOC disaster‑vendor needs before bringing formal contract approvals to the commission.