Politics & Government

DeKalb County Audit Shows Over $30K Spent on Charities

The audit shows county commissioners were sloppy about keeping receipts for their expenses.

An independent audit released by DeKalb County not only shows a large amount of money spent on charities, but also the lack of organization in record keeping among elected officials.

The audit tracked county commission spending for the past 10 years, according to WABE.

The audit included use of county purchasing cards, called “P-cards,” according to WABE. Nearly 300 elected DeKalb officials have P-cards, which function like debit cards, used to pay for work-related expenses. P-card use was tracked back to 2010.

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Commissioners are allowed to use part of their budget to donate to charity, WABE reports. The audit shows over $30,000 was spent on charity.

District 2 Commissioner Jeff Rader donated over $20,000 to Park Pride Atlanta over a three-year period; District 3 Commissioner Larry Johnson donated $12,000 to the Porter Sanford Performing Arts Center and $500 to the GSU Foundation; District 4 Commissioner Sharon Barnes-Sutton spent $1,650 in gift cards over a two-year period.

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Reports also show commissioners have not done the best job at keeping records of their purchases, making special note of Barnes-Sutton’s total of 332 transactions totalling over $60,000 without receipts, WABE reports.

P-card use and budget use for charity donations have been the focus of ethics complaints in the county.

The audit also brought up former District 1 Commissioner Elaine Boyer’s spending and misuse of her P-card. Boyer pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges tied to submitting fake invoices totaling $78,000.

>>Read the full story at WABE.

>>Patch file photo

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