Anchorage public worker purchases flagged [View all]

ANCHORAGE (AP) — Some purchases made by Anchorage city workers using their purchasing cards have been flagged in an annual review as “questionable or prohibited purchases.”

The city’s internal audit department questioned purchases including flu vaccinations, food and related items for employee training and lunch meetings, appliances for staff use, a gift for employees, artwork for a Christmas card, Christmas cards and premium satellite television subscriptions.

The department looked at 48,298 card purchases from 2016 totaling $18,069,421. The amount represented an increase of about $1.5 million in card spending from 2015, when the department found employees made 45,972 purchases totaling $16,558,975, KTVA-TV reported.

The questionable or prohibited purchases were for 24 large purchases that were split to circumvent single transaction spending limits placed on the cards.

Read more: http://www.ketchikandailynews.com/article/20170824/ARTICLE/170829962