Top administrators in Ross are getting a kind of municipal credit card that can be used to make some purchases.

The cards, each with a spending limit of $3,000 per month, will be issued to the police, parks and recreation, public works and administration departments. All items bought with the cards, called procurement cards, would have to meet purchasing rules, finance director Wayne Jones said.

The cards will be issued at no cost through a statewide agency called the Pennsylvania Local Government Investment Trust, which provides financial services to more than 2,600 municipalities and school districts.

Use of plastic to make some purchases will serve at least three purposes, Mr. Jones said.

Township officials will need to keep less petty cash on hand, he said. The cards also will eliminate the need for employees to pay travel expenses with their own credit cards and then seek reimbursement. And, the cards will ensure access to funds during emergencies.

Following almost a year of discussion and research, commissioners approved the cards at their business meeting June 25.

Mr. Jones offered an example of how the cards will work. Once township commissioners approve a request from Police Chief Ralph Freedman to attend a law enforcement convention, he would be able to use the township card to reserve a hotel room and to pay travel expenses.

The township will get a single monthly statement from the trust covering spending on all four cards.

Existing financial safeguards will remain in place, Mr. Jones said, including the requirement that any purchase of more than $1,000 be paid for only after an invoice is submitted.

The procurement cards also could be used to pay for approved Internet purchases.

In other business, commissioners approved a contract with Jordan Tax Service to provide billing for sanitary sewer accounts.

The Bethel Park company will send out quarterly bills on behalf of the township for an annual fee not to exceed $70,000.

Commissioners also instructed their solicitor, C. Donald Gates, to apply for trademark registration for "The Ross Record," the longtime name of the township's newsletter. Officials said they plan to copyright all material that appears in the publication.

Commissioners took those steps in anticipation of seeking proposals from companies to produce an upgraded version of the community newsletter.

The board and a Washington County publisher were unable to reach agreement on terms to jointly publish a glossy, full-color community magazine called "In the Ross Record."

After 18 months of negotiations, the two sides split over the issue of who would have final say over editorial content and advertising.

In another matter, officials promised to improve visibility for drivers at Sixth Avenue and Seventh Street in the township's Laurel Gardens neighborhood.

David Winter, who lives nearby on Ninth Avenue, distributed photographs showing overgrown vegetation that he said made it almost impossible for motorists on Sixth Avenue to see cars coming up Seventh Street.

If the thick shrubbery is in the street right of way, township crews can clear it, Mr. Gates said. If the obstruction is on private property, the property owner can be ordered to cut it back.

Mr. Winter said he made a similar request in August 2006, but nothing was done.