Ocean City Makes Purchases with P-Card

OCEAN CITY– Ocean City is the first municipality in New Jersey to use Procurement Cards.
While not common in New Jersey the concept of Procurement Cards, commonly known as P-Cards, are nothing new for businesses and in fact have been used in many local governments throughout the country for over a decade.
According to a release, both the County of Cape May and Ocean City have spearheaded this effort after seeing it demonstrated at a national conference. Ocean City Purchasing Manager Joe Clark noted, “I knew this was something we could implement in New Jersey and immediately benefit from; by not only reducing the cost of procurement and streamlining our processes but also from the rebates earned.”
The P-Card can best be explained as a paperless requisition system that is used for purchasing everything from supplies to fuel. The P-card purchases earn rebates for each purchase that are issued on a fiscal year basis. Purchases on P-cards can only be made from approved contract vendors and at established maximum amounts.
Cape May County government was the first public entity in New Jersey to use P-cards and Ocean City is the first municipality.
“Technology has allowed Ocean City to save staff time and become more efficient. P-Cards are just one step towards a more effective and less paper intensive operation,” City Administrator Jim Rutala noted.
Ocean City has used technology to establish a time clock system, fuel dispensing monitors, access systems to City buildings and operations like the Aquatic and Fitness Center, and 24 hour monitoring of the efficiency of solar arrays on five City buildings.
Ocean City teamed up with the Bank of America to put this program into effect. Based on the volume of P-Card purchases both the County and the City will receive rebates from the Bank of America.
The benefits of a P-card program are many. Not only do they make government more efficient but they improve supplier relations by insuring payment within 2 to 5 days. The control systems in place with P-cards also reduce the chance that unauthorized purchases or over expenditures are made.