On July 21, 2025, the City of Richmond issued a memo to the City Council Finance and Economic Development Committee outlining recent actions and future plans regarding its Purchasing Card (P-card) Program. This comes after a reset of the program on April 30, 2025.
Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald highlighted immediate actions such as implementing interim controls and suspending non-essential P-Card activities. The reforms also include separating duties across card issuance, approval, and reconciliation, updating the City’s travel policy, and developing a discretionary spend policy.
“Richmonders deserve a government that operates with transparency and integrity,” stated Mayor Danny Avula. “We’re taking a hard look at the problems, finding what’s not working, and fixing them. This work is about restoring trust and making sure our systems work the way they’re supposed to.”
“The City is committed to making real progress – addressing existing issues, improving policies, and strengthening internal controls. Beyond these initial actions, we remain laser focused on building a strong organization that residents can rely on,” said Odie Donald.
In early May, Richmond reduced its purchasing cards by over 80%, from 320 to around 60. Purchases are now limited to those essential for public health, safety, critical services or where no other payment methods exist.
The National Institute for Public Procurement conducted an independent assessment providing recommendations for the purchasing card program. The City Auditor also provided recommendations following its comprehensive audit.
Next steps in the reset process include assessing program recommendations further; strengthening purchasing card policy with input from the Office of the City Auditor; finalizing an updated Purchasing Card policy; implementing training tools; fully lifting pauses; and completing the reset.
The city has established a one-stop track for all updates related to this program rebuild including news announcements and status updates on key reform processes like recruitment efforts for new personnel or updated language implementation procedures along with training material updates.
Review more details about this initiative at: https://www.rva.gov/procurement-services/p-card-progress
