Audit Finds Over $880,000 in Roanoke City Card Purchases Still Awaiting Approval
An internal audit has found that more than $880,000 in purchases made by Roanoke city employees over a six-month period were never formally approved, raising concerns about oversight — even though investigators say they found no evidence of theft or fraud.
The spending involved 946 transactions totaling $884,283, charged to city purchasing cards between December 2024 and June 2025. These cards function much like credit cards and are issued to employees to cover certain work-related expenses.
According to Municipal Auditor Drew Harmon, the expense reports themselves were submitted. The problem is that they were never signed off by supervisors or the finance department.
That lack of approval, the audit notes, “created conditions in which card purchases could go unreviewed,” increasing the risk that improper or incorrectly coded expenses could slip through unnoticed.
Gift Cards, Food Delivery Flagged
While most of the purchases were tied to legitimate city business, auditors flagged several categories that raised red flags.
Those included:
- $27,000 in gift card purchases
- More than $4,000 spent on food delivery services such as DoorDash and Uber Eats
- Roughly $19,000 in spending auditors described as potentially “wasteful,” including flowers, a specialized haircut for an apprentice, and more than $1,500 in Amazon Prime subscriptions
In many of those cases, documentation was missing or incomplete. Auditors said it was sometimes unclear whether purchases met city procurement rules for spending public funds.
Gift cards, in particular, drew concern.
“They’re very subject to being misappropriated,” Harmon said. “They’re basically like cash.”
The audit found gift cards were used for employee recognition, referrals, door prizes, and some social services programs — with nearly $8,000 spent at a single local retailer.
Oversight Gaps Years in the Making
This was the first audit of the city’s purchasing card program in seven years, and it arrived four months late. City audits, Harmon told council members, have been running behind schedule for several years.
There’s no financial penalty tied to late audits, but the optics matter.
“It’s a bad look,” Harmon said. “It’s a sign of potential problems to bondholders — and most localities need to be able to borrow money.”
New Software, Staffing Shortages Cited
City officials largely point to staffing shortages and problems with a new financial software system as the root causes.
Last year, the city rolled out a new Oracle system designed to handle budgeting, accounting, purchasing, and payments. Harmon said the system was launched too quickly, without enough training.
As a result, the finance department is still discovering missing transactions and misclassified expenses in fiscal year 2025 records.
Councilwoman Evelyn Powers, who spent nearly two decades as city treasurer before retiring in 2024, said she was disappointed the issues are lingering.
“Honestly, I did not feel we were ready to truly go live in July of 2024,” Powers said. She added that Oracle is a strong system — but only once staff has time to learn it properly.
Harmon said the department is currently short at least two accounting positions, and turnover has been heavy over the last several years. The situation was further complicated last week when Finance Director Margaret Lindsey left her position.
To keep things moving, the city has temporarily pulled in staff from other departments to help clear the backlog.
More Than 900 Reports Still Need Review
One of the biggest challenges ahead, Harmon said, is reviewing the more than 900 expense reports still waiting for approval — and doing it carefully.
“You can’t just rubber-stamp them,” he said. “You have to actually scrutinize whether the expense was necessary and appropriate.”
As of May 19, the city had more than 830 active purchasing cards. Any employee can receive one with supervisor approval and a demonstrated need.
The audit found that, overall, the purchases were related to city work and initiatives. Still, it called for updated policies, noting that purchasing card rules haven’t been revised since 2015, despite changes in banking providers, technology, and spending practices.
New policies addressing gift cards, online food orders, and other issues are expected to be drafted by February 1.
“It’s Not Good — But We’re Moving Forward”
Another issue flagged in the audit involved delayed approval of account transfers, which in some cases led to spending from accounts that technically didn’t have the funds available yet. Harmon said those backlogs are now being addressed.
“My office has been concerned for a while,” he said. “We’re late, and things haven’t been done that need to be done. That’s not good at all.”
Still, Harmon said he’s optimistic the department is heading in the right direction and hopes to have operations back on track by the start of the next fiscal year in July.