The City of Richmond has launched an online progress tracker to update the public on its overhaul of the city’s purchasing card, or p-card, program — a system that has faced repeated criticism for weak oversight and misuse.

The new tool, announced Monday, is part of efforts to restore trust and strengthen accountability after city audits and internal reviews revealed widespread problems in how cards were used and monitored. In past years, cardholders were found exceeding spending limits, failing to submit receipts and making purchases that did not always appear clearly tied to city business.

Mayor Danny Avula said the city didn’t just suspend the troubled program but chose to rebuild it “from the ground up” to align with industry best practices and prevent future abuse.

“We know that government accountability must be earned, every day,” Avula said in a statement. “That’s why we didn’t just pause the p-card program. We took a close look at what wasn’t working and chose to rebuild something stronger and more transparent that better serves our city. This tracker is our way of inviting the public into that process and showing, in real time, the work we’re doing to fix it.”

The new tracker provides updates on key steps, including recruiting new staff, rewriting policies and procedures, and expanding user training.

Rene Almaraz, the city’s procurement director, said stricter safeguards and clearer lines of responsibility are at the center of the new system.

“The new p-card program will have rigorous guardrails, comprehensive user training and clear lines of accountability,” Almaraz said. “This tracker is one more layer of transparency that we are committed to providing as we work to identify and fix what is not best serving the people of Richmond.”

The p-card progress tracker is available at rva.gov/procurement-services/p-card-progress.