A International Information investigation has revealed how the Metropolis of Richmond spent tons of of hundreds of {dollars} on restaurant reward playing cards.
Outcomes of a freedom of data request for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 returned 493 pages of paperwork, together with receipts and emails.
They present the town spent roughly $156,000 in 2022, $218,000 in 2023 and $124,000 in 2024, for a complete of about $498,000. Subtracting doable duplications, it got here to $445,000
Richmond beforehand mentioned that reward playing cards value taxpayers $32,800 in 2022, $71,550 in and $71,300 in 2024.
A Richmond worker, who we agreed to not determine as a result of they weren’t licensed to talk on the subject, informed us many playing cards had been saved in a bowl.
Others had been handed out for no explicit purpose, they mentioned.
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“For the time being it appeared nice, you bought a card however when you consider it, why are we getting these, we’re very effectively paid to do our jobs and we’re not a non-public group so these are all tax {dollars},” he mentioned.
He mentioned some workers had been requested to carry out earlier than they got the reward.
“I heard it, I by no means noticed it, typically they might make you sing a music and you bought a card for it,” he mentioned.
The worker mentioned they by no means noticed something written all the way down to account for a way they had been distributed.
“These are the sorts of issues that may really fall beneath the mandate of an auditor basic,” mentioned Gordon Ruth, British Columbia’s former auditor basic for native authorities.
“Native governments in British Columbia not have that additional degree of transparency, accountability and actually a glance towards public effectivity.”
After requesting further time to evaluation numbers, Metropolis of Richmond responded that, as we reported, “a number of data exist for a similar transaction. In consequence, we’ve been unable to confirm your numbers.”
The town additionally mentioned that “there isn’t a reward card funds within the Metropolis of Richmond,” one thing that Ruth referred to as troubling.
“I imply it’s a reasonably important expenditure so I’m shocked that they weren’t planning and managing it,” he mentioned.
Will the reward card program proceed?
Richmond says “reward playing cards at the moment are solely permitted to be used when recognizing lengthy service, retirement and volunteer service.”
The discretionary a part of the questionable program has apparently been cancelled.
© 2025 International Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
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