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Resident raises concerns about county P-card spending and subscription purchases
Summary
A resident reported more than $166,000 in P-card spending across three months and urged the county to centralize subscriptions and travel booking to achieve government discounts and reduce wasteful purchases.
At the public-comment portion of the Newton County Board of Commissioners meeting on April 15, resident James Peterson addressed the board about county procurement card (P-card) usage and spending.
Peterson said January P-card expenditures totaled $38,798.33, including more than $5,000 on fast food and $1,992.98 at Walmart and $1,992.98 at local grocery stores; he reported multiple streaming subscriptions charged to the P-card (two Hulu subscriptions, two Netflix subscriptions and one to TUBI). Peterson said February P-card spending was $62,701.36, March spending was $65,190.63, and the three-month total he cited was $166,680. He identified specific line items such as fast food, Walmart and a $894 payment to “Let’s Burn It” (a wood-burning vendor) and a $468.63 charge at Guitar Center in March.
Peterson recommended limiting P-card use to emergencies, requiring IT to purchase software such as Adobe and Zoom to obtain government pricing, and routing travel and hotel reservations through Human Resources to secure government or conference discounts.
The board did not take immediate action during the meeting; Peterson said he would be available after the meeting for questions and can provide sources for his figures.
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