RICHMOND, Va. — A Richmond City audit has uncovered over $5 million in questionable spending through Richmond’s purchasing card (p-card) program.
The investigation into city p-cards, which are credit cards issued to staff allowing them to make smaller purchases more efficiently, comes after Mayor Danny Avula announced a program reset earlier this year and reduced the number of active p-cards by over 70%.
“P-cards are a best practice, but Richmond’s p-card program needs a reset,” Mayor Avula said in an emailed statement in April. “So, today, I’m turning off the vast majority of p-cards and placing new purchasing restrictions on the remaining cards. We’ll take the next few months to reassess, retool, and reboot the program in an effective way that really serves Richmonders.”
Audit Findings
Richmond’s Department of Procurement Services (DPS), which oversees the p-card program, processed more than 43,000 transactions totaling nearly $21 million from July 2022 through May 2024. As of June 2024, there were more than 348 active cards across 38 departments, according to the report…