Multnomah County’s elected watchdog has opened a broad review of the government’s handling of gift cards and other types of prepaid support, after a news report earlier this year detailed how the health department struggled to account for how the items had been distributed.
Auditor Jennifer McGuirk told county leaders last month that she kickstarted the audit due to problems with gift card tracking uncovered in the Health Department.
In January, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported that the Health Department was still missing documentation for how nearly $272,000 in “cash equivalent” items such as gift cards, prepaid transit passes and phone cards were used, despite several months of trying to track down the information. County officials have since accounted for approximately $121,000 of the cards and other items…