Forsyth County leaders are among the most generous in metro Atlanta in passing out taxpayer-paid credit cards to employees, and they routinely ignore their own spending rules to chase after cash rebates, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis shows.

Most of the charges have been for office supplies and other small purchases for which the cards were intended. But workers also have plunked down their credit cards for gas, carwashes, NASCAR tickets and meals at Hooters, the records show. Some charges exceed limits in the county's written purchasing policy.

County Finance Director Cherrita Griswold defended giving, on average, one in seven employees a card, saying the cards help the county save time and money by not writing checks. She also pointed to the rebates all counties get for using the cards. Last year for Forsyth, that was $56,340 on $4 million spent.

"We encourage everything possible to be put on the card. Why not get the rebates?" Griswold said. "I feel we have a good handle on it. ... Every single charge on every single card is looked at every single month."

Chairman urges changes

Forsyth Commission Chairman Charles Laughinghouse said he was surprised by the number of cards his county has issued through a program the board authorized in 2000. He also questioned why some county employees are buying meals and gas with their cards while they're in Forsyth.

"Other than a business-related meeting, why are they doing it?" he asked. "I think if you're using it as an individual to buy a meal, as an individual you have to be out of the county on county business."

Laughinghouse said: "I very definitely think we'll have to take a look at having staff revise the policy."

Forsyth County participates in a state credit card program that has come under investigation. Two former Georgia Tech employees have pleaded guilty to misusing their state-issued Bank of America VISA credit cards in recent months. One rang up more than $316,000 in charges on 3,800 personal items, including a Wave-

runner personal watercraft, Coach handbags, a wide-screen TV and air conditioning units for her RV.

No Forsyth employee has been implicated in any wrongdoing. But the county's expenditures — and the abundance of credit cards among its employees — concerns some officials.

"It is an employee perk," said Rep. John Heard (R-Lawrenceville), when told by the AJC about some of Forsyth's purchases. "Go have a beer on me. Or go have Hooters wings on the taxpayers."

Heard was chairman of a legislative panel last year that looked into ways to stem fraud in the state program. State officials have since tightened their rules, forbidding counties from using the cards for meals and gas starting July 1.

Tam's a popular spot

An AJC analysis of Forsyth County's credit card charges dating to 2005 shows county employees have spent tens of thousands of dollars at restaurants and gas stations with their cards.

Forsyth workers regularly whip out their p-cards at Tam's Backstage Food & Spirits in Cumming, which is run by County Commissioner Brian Tam and his wife. Records show county employees have spent $7,238 since 2005 at the popular restaurant within walking distance from the county building.

"Even if I were not a commissioner, that restaurant would probably have a high volume of activity from county employees given that it is right next door," Brian Tam said.

County Manager Rhonda O'Connor has spent $291 on meals at Tam's since 2005.

"When I request that staff work through lunch, I believe it is appropriate to bring food in while we are working," O'Connor said. "The local choice restaurant is usually based upon accessibility/delivery availability."

County workers — men and women — also have frequented the risque Hooters restaurant chain on the county dime, paying $1,379 for meals at various locations over the past four years.

"Hooters, forget it," said Steven Olson, director of the Center for Ethics and Corporate Responsibility at Georgia State University. "If you are asking people what is the worst thing we could do to erode the public's trust in how we are stewarding their money, send them to a Hooters or a strip club."

One charge for $37 at a Hooters in Baltimore landed on Fire Chief Danny Bowman's purchasing card in 2005. Bowman said he has not set foot in Hooters and believes one of his employees made the charge without his approval during an out-of-town business event.

"Had I known that, I would have probably stated, 'You really don't need to go into any kind of establishment that is not generally accepted as being family-oriented,' " Bowman said.

Carwashes in drought

Forsyth employees have been using their cards at gas stations, spending $18,857 last year and $6,737 so far this year, even though the county has its own gas pumps, records show.

Meanwhile, in the middle of a historic drought that prompted a "no carwash" edict for state employees from Gov. Sonny Perdue last year, county workers were charging taxpayers with $2,726 worth of carwashes. County Tax Commissioner Matthew Ledbetter's office alone spent $536 on carwashes with the cards since January 2007.

Ledbetter defended the spending, saying he's trying to project a positive public image.

"I want our vehicles to look good when we pull up and talk to somebody," Ledbetter said. "I don't want a Mountain Dew bottle falling out when you open the door."

Forsyth's own policy prohibits using the cards to buy gifts and flowers, pay for printing or make single purchases that top $500, yet county records show:

• County employees put a total of $1,639 on their cards last year for NASCAR Nextel Cup, Atlanta Ballet and Gwinnett Gladiators hockey tickets and a purchase at a Gamestop video game store. Griswold, the county finance chief, and Forsyth purchasing director Donna Kukarola said the county approved buying those items to give away as prizes at a county employees appreciation luncheon;

• Since last year, county tax assessor employees have put $542 in Avon products on their cards. Griswold and Kukarola say the county bought the items to give away at an expo for county seniors;

• Forsyth employees have paid florists and gifts shops $2,722 with the cards since 2005. Griswold and Kukarola said some of those purchases might have been for items other than flowers and gifts. But when the AJC asked to see the receipts, the county said the newspaper would have to pay $300 for the records;

• County employees also have spent $134,098 at Cumming Printing & Office Supplies since 2005. Paying for printing with the cards is also forbidden under county policy;

• County records show 343 expenditures so far this year exceeding the $500 limit.

Kukarola said her department and some others regularly exceed the $500 limit so they can benefit more from rebates, although she concedes that's not in writing anywhere. She racked up 30 such expenditures last year.

Nearby counties handle purchasing differently. Cobb County, for example, has no purchasing cards, said county spokesman Robert Quigley. County employees can buy items on their personal credit cards and get reimbursed by submitting receipts and getting approval. Or they can get purchase orders approved by their department heads, receive the goods and then submit bills to the county for payment.

"Our county manager is a very firm believer in the fact that there is too much liability with purchase cards," Quigley said.

Hall County prohibited using the cards for meals and gas even before the state policy change. The county's cards, in fact, automatically block such purchases, said Tim Sims, the county's purchasing director.

"There have been some questionable things in the past," he said, "but it is just a handful because everybody knows we are watching them."

Jeremy Redmon, Nancy Badertscher and Megan Clarke can be reached at jredmon@ajc.com, nbadertscher@ajc.com and mclarke@ajc.com