Richmond Mayor Danny Avula announced Wednesday a reset of the city's p-card program, which allows employees to charge work expenses onto a city-provided procurement card.

"I’m turning off the vast majority of p-cards and placing new purchasing restrictions on the remaining cards," Avula said. "We’ll take the next few months to reassess, retool, and reboot the program in an effective way that really serves Richmonders.”

The Times-Dispatch has reported extensively on p-card abuse, including a Tuesday story about an employee who spent $40,000 at a company registered to his own house.

Some of the measures being taken include:

• Reducing the number of cards issued from 320 to approximately 60
• Banning travel-related purchases
• Banning Amazon and food purchases, except where mission-critical

The city has contracted with the Institute for Public Procurement to conduct an independent assessment of the program and provide recommendations on how to move forward.

Contact Michael Phillips at mphillips@richmonder.org.