The following SlideShare Presentation shows lodging costs for Gloucester County and Gloucester Schools employees for the period of July 2018 thru May 2019.
Defending The Republic, Not some Democracy, and enjoying some of life's rewards along the way.
Showing posts with label Credit Cards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Credit Cards. Show all posts
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Gloucester County and GCPS Employee Lodging Costs
The following SlideShare Presentation shows lodging costs for Gloucester County and Gloucester Schools employees for the period of July 2018 thru May 2019.
Monday, October 5, 2020
How Gloucester County, Virginia Taxpayers' Money Is Spent/Wasted. This can't go on.............
Not long ago I published an article demonstrating how some of our local tax dollars are spent/wasted. (Click here for article.) Even before publishing that article, we began looking at the County’s and School System’s use of Purchase Cards. Purchase Cards are commonly referred to as Credit Cards and in the instance of our local government, they are known as P-Cards.
Currently we are in possession of copies of P-Card statements from June 2019 thru June 2020 that the County charged me over $200 to obtain through a very deceptive, time-consuming, and frustrating Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. Nevertheless, we have been able to conduct a general review of the statements and are well on our way to building spreadsheets that will enable us to take a much closer look at how our tax dollars are being spent. We also intend to ask our local government to allow us to review and copy some of the supporting document files for some of the charges. I say some of the supporting document files because it would literally take us weeks if not months and several hundred dollars or more in FOIA fees to the County to scrutinize such a magnitude of files. Transparency is expensive in Gloucester County.
What do we know about Gloucester’s P-Cards in general? We know a P-Card was used by the person convicted of stealing from the School System’s bus garage. (To read two related stories, Click here and click here.) We know thousands of purchases are made every month. We know some of the charges are payments for goods and services procured through a competitive bidding process. An example of such procurements is pizza from Domino’s for school lunches once a month. We know P-Cards are used to make purchases in other countries like Germany, Canada, The United Kingdom and Ireland. We know P-Cards are used to travel all over Virginia and to Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona, California, Pennsylvania and other states. We know there are employees who use the P-Cards appropriately and we know there are ones who abuse them. We know we have more to learn and we are doing so.
I guess it’s time to tell you how much money we are talking about. From June 1, 2019 until June 30, 2020, they charged and paid off $4,437,897.19. Thus far, we have determined those charges were made by over 100 different P-Card holders but will not know the exact total until more work is done. Let’s look at some other things we have learned so far.
The following are the amounts spent per month for three consecutive months and the total spent each month on just a few Merchant Categories (MCC) of goods and services. (Purchases rounded to nearest $100)
$442,337.33 was charged during June 2019.
Airlines – $1,300
Lodging – $10,500
Meals – $1,500
Cox Communications – $40,300
Verizon – $11,800
Amazon – $21,500
Local Walmart, Food Lion & Kroger – $2,600
Organization Memberships – $955.10
Coffee Service – $300
Computer Software - $11,500
$695,379.49 was charged during July 2019.
Airlines – $2,400
Lodging – $10,700
Meals – $3,100
Cox Communications – $38,200
Verizon – $2,500
Amazon – $22,400
Local Walmart, Food Lion & Harris Teeter – $3,400
Organization Memberships – $4,900
Mulch and Lawncare – $700
Coffee Service - $200
Computer Software - $5,700
$293,198.46 was charged during August 2019.
Airlines – $4,900
Lodging – $3,700
Meals – $2,000
Cox Communications – $38,100
Verizon – $4,500
Amazon – $23,300
Local Walmart and Food Lion – $4,200
Organization Memberships – $10,000
Mulch and Lawn Care - $33,000
Coffee Services - $200
Computer Software - $600
There was a heck of a lot of money spent each month on air travel, lodging and meals. The examples above do not include reimbursements for cash receipts and do not reflect parking fees, tolls, fuel costs, car rentals, taxi fares, bus rentals, etc. related to travel. There were multiple people traveling every month throughout the 13-month period we are studying.
We pay Cox Communications a lot every month as well. The amount does not seem justified considering the number of people in the County who get no benefit from their service. I believe the same can be said about Verizon.
As for Amazon, Walmart, Food Lion, Kroger, Harris Teeter and a huge number of other suppliers, we will have no idea what all of that money was spent on until we get a look at the supporting document files for the charges. Rest assured, I will share whatever we find, good and bad. You can see more suppliers in the copies of P-Card statements I have provided in the SlideShare presentations below.
Organizations and memberships is another tax dollar eating category. Most of these organizations bring no direct benefit to Gloucester taxpayers and in some instances, they work against the citizenry and are downright Socialist and or divisive in nature. Examples of such entities are: Virginia School Board Association, Virginia Association of School Superintendents, Society For Human Resources, National Alliance of Black Educators, National School Board Association, Virginia Association of Elementary School Teachers, Virginia Parks and Recreation Association, Realtor Association, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, Virginia Association of Governmental Purchasing and too many more to list here. You can click on each organization listed to visit their website. I encourage you to take a look at each of them.
The amount of tax dollars spent on Mulch and Lawncare services is, in my humble opinion, absolutely ludicrous. There seems to be plenty money to spend on luxury and unbeneficial things, but not enough to keep our schools maintained.
The County and School System have initiated an all out campaign to entice Gloucester residents to vote in favor of raising the local retail sales and use tax. They are disseminating flyers on social media that are full of deception. The words “may”, “potentially” and “probably” are words of uncertainty and lack of commitment and are used throughout their flier. If this tax increase is enacted it will not only provide the School System with a blank check for as much as $100 Million, it will also pave the way for a meals tax increase. Did you know Gloucester has already increased the lodging tax to raise more tax dollars for Recreation and Tourism? It’s true.
It is time for our School System and County to be forced into becoming fiscally responsible. We The People of Gloucester were ignored during the recent Public Hearing on the School System borrowing nearly $6 Million. This can never be allowed to happen again. The whole Public Hearing was nothing more than a sham and is not how government in the USA is supposed to work. Not one Public Comment speaker spoke in favor of the borrowing, yet every Supervisor except Mr. Winebarger and Mr. Bazzani voted yes to approve it. Mr. Winebarger and Mr. Bazzani voted no. This time they cannot ignore our voice. Let’s send them a clear message this year by voting “NO” on the tax increase and send another message next year by voting several School Board and Board of Supervisors members out of office.
Written By: Kenny Hogge Sr
Gloucester Point, Virginia
A few interesting transactions that we intend to look at further.
06/06
74208474X00072Q9D JIMDO
HAMBURG
$240.00
06/06
74208474X00072Q9D FOREIGN
TRANSACTION FEE $2.40
JIMDO Hamburg Website and webstore hosting from Hamburg, Germany. https://www.jimdo.com/
07/22
24755426O3HM5N9Y2 FERG CENTER
FOR THE ARTS $600.50
07/23 24040836QS66JG33B SWIFT CREEK MILL THEATER $442.00
Ferguson Center for The Arts https://www.fergusoncenter.org/
Swift Creek Mill Theater http://siteline.vendini.com/site/swiftcreekmill.com/
08/27
24692167F2XDZV3Z6 SAN
DIEGO ZOO WEB STORE $725.00
San Diego Zoo We Store https://shopzoo.com/
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Suze Orman Calls For Debit Card Transactions To Be Considered Same As Credit
The following was sent to us through Change.org's website. Suze Orman, Financial Advisor. Before we make our comments, let's look at what she has to report. As a world-renowned financial advisor, I know that building good credit is one of the most important things you can do to secure your financial future. But did you know that none of the purchases you make with your debit card count toward building your credit? This puts debit card users at a serious disadvantage when it comes to making big purchases like a car or a home, or even applying for jobs and rental agreements. No credit = bad credit, and because the credit bureaus don't track debit card transactions, debit card users get no reward for being financially responsible. This is a deeply unfair system, especially for lower income people, and I am determined to see it change. That's why I started a petition on Change.org calling on the Senate Banking Committee to mandate that the major credit bureaus track debit card transactions as well as credit cards. Please click here to sign. This change could make a big difference for a lot of people, from young people applying for student loans, to new families who want to own their own homes, to people who've fallen on hard times and need to refinance their mortgages. You could be the most loan-worthy person in the world, but simply because you choose to use a debit card rather than a credit card, you run a high risk that your credit score will be negatively impacted -- and you might not be able to get the loan you need. The good news is that the Senate Banking Committee is led by folks like Senator Elizabeth Warren who want to promote financial fairness. I know that by using a petition to draw attention to this important issue, we can give the Senate Banking Committee the leverage it needs to help make the credit ranking process more fair for everyone. Our Notes: Sorry Suze Q, we just can't support stupidity. A debit card is not a credit card and we do not need more intrusions into our financial affairs watching everything we purchase, we need less intrusions. The concept is the same as saying that we need to track cash transactions to determine credit scores. It makes no sense. How would anyone track cash transactions? Should the local drug dealer get credit for paying for his drugs from his supplier in cash? Give that drug dealer bonus points for paying cash? Hey I just paid my bookie off, now give me bonus credits for being caught up with the bookie? A debit card is the same as a cash transaction. It's not a credit card and should not be considered the same as one. For a world class Financial Adviser, this sure is a pretty bad move. What were you thinking? |
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Gloucester, VA Officials Improper Use of Credit Cards?
Our first story is of one Gloucester official who used a county government issued credit card to finance a personal affair he was having with a person out of the area. County officials found out about the fraud when the guys wife turned him in. Charges on the card were for tickets and a county vehicle was being used for personal use in the affair. What did county officials do? Nothing from what we were informed other than protect him from the charges. County officials who wanted him charged were backed off from the case.
In another story, we have a county official who decided to go out and get plastered at one of the local establishments and at the end of the evening decided to pay for her private party with a county issued credit card. She made the mistake of leaving the credit card at the local establishment who had to trace her down to give her the credit card back. Lucky for all of us the establishment has such a professional and dedicated staff to perform such a duty as we all could have been stuck with all kinds of credit card fraud charges.
What happened to this employee? Well the employee still has her job. She just has to live with the story and hope that we never get our hands on it. How much corruption do we have to report here every week? Our county officials are out of control at every level and having a party on your dime. That dime used to be a nickle. That dime is about to become a quarter. It keeps getting worse the more we dig and it's now coming in from all over these days.
What's even worse? County officials are still balancing the books even with this kind of stuff going on. Can someone please explain that to us? And you wonder why your taxes are high and going ever higher? We never read this part of the Virginia Constitution.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Gloucester, VA School Board and Credit Cards (Part 3 of 10)
About the Yankee Institute for Public Policy
The Yankee Institute for Public Policy, Inc. is a nonpartisan educational and research organization
founded more than two decades ago. Today, the Yankee Institute’s mission is to “promote
economic opportunity through lower taxes and new ideas for better government in Connecticut.”
Question 3: Credit Cards
Who has credit cards? How are charges independently verified to see if they are
proper school expenses?
Background: Credit-card abuse is rampant and is a common source of
school corruption. The reason for this is that most districts do not have an
effective monitoring system in place to verify the expenses for legitimacy.
Proposed Solution: At least two independent sources need to verify
expenses. The school finance officer and town treasurer can provide such
verification. There must also be guidelines developed as to what constitutes
legitimate expenses, and the limits of what can be spent on such items.
However, the best practice is to not have credit cards. Staff can use their
personal credit cards and then seek reimbursement, or purchase orders can
also be used.
Stop corruption in local school administration by making sure these policies get placed and followed.
This is part 3 in our 10 part series.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)