Kingston, NY (April 14, 2025) – Ulster County Comptroller March Gallagher today released an audit of Ulster County’s use of procurement cards. Procurement cards (P-cards) are credit cards used by government entities. Ulster County entered its current P-card contract with JP Morgan Chase in 2008. That agreement has not been modified since, while the industry has evolved to provide better rebates to government card holders based on overall spending.
The audit found that Ulster County could generate more rebate revenue without increasing spending by piggybacking on to a New York State contract for P-card services. Rebates could be even further increased by shifting payments to major eligible vendors from paper check to virtual P-card payments. The County’s P-card vendor estimates that based on the County’s 2023 spending, Ulster County could have earned an additional $203,000 in rebates had the County used the New York State P-card program and recruited vendors to accept the virtual card.
Another finding of the audit was that Ulster County incurred $13,681.48 in unnecessary finance charges because of late payments on some accounts which could be remedied by paying the County’s monthly bills electronically rather than by paper check, which takes longer to process.
The Comptroller’s office reviews all P-card purchases and supporting documentation as part of the payment approval process. When purchases are inappropriate or not justified as County charges, employees or their supervisors are required to reimburse the County. As such, this audit generated no findings with respect to inappropriate P-card charges. Taxpayers can rest assured that the P-card is being used appropriately and that monthly charges are reviewed. As a part of the Comptroller’s transparency initiative, all P-card purchases are now available on the Vendor Dashboard.
“This audit is yet another example of how the work of government can be improved to actually save money and earn additional revenues,” said Ulster County Comptroller March Gallagher. “As the recent arrest for a fraudulent Ulster County check indicates, paper checks present a risk for fraud that electronic transactions do not. Best practices in government accounting urge the use of more electronic and ACH transactions to reduce these risks. I am pleased the Metzger Administration agrees with our findings and I look forward to working with the Finance and Purchasing Departments to transition our P-card program to earn more rewards.”
