Multnomah County is trying to untangle a costly mystery: where nearly $272,000 in gift cards and other prepaid incentives actually ended up.
An internal review turned up major gaps in the records that are supposed to show who received those cards. The shortfall, covering purchases made through mid‑2025 and spanning hundreds of transactions, has county finance staff tracking down unused cards and scrambling to collect missing paperwork. County leaders say the review is still underway as auditors work to match incentives to recipients and figure out whether employees followed policy.
Records Missing In Finance Review
The county's health finance team first raised the alarm after sweeping its electronic records and noticing serious documentation problems. According to OregonLive, the review covered 629 purchases of prepaid items. At the time of the review, distribution logs were properly filed for only 136 of those purchases.
Staff eventually dug up additional logs for another 172 purchases. That still left the county with a big hole in its records. The remaining transactions, together worth nearly $272,000, had no clear documentation showing how or to whom the incentives were distributed, according to the reporting.
Why Gift Cards Need Paper Trails
County auditors and finance staff have been warning for years that gift cards and other “cash equivalents” have to be tracked like cash. Once they are out the door, they are hard to trace without tight controls. The county’s own pandemic funds audit flagged earlier problems, including provider organizations buying and handing out gift cards without always turning in the required supporting documents.
That audit urged stronger procurement procedures and stricter controls on purchase cards. The Health Department’s FY 2026 budget shows an operating budget of $531.4 million, a scale that county officials say makes airtight controls on anything cash‑like non‑negotiable. Finance experts say better distribution logs, secure storage and faster reconciliation are the basic tools for closing gaps like the one now under review.
What County Records Show
Purchase records reviewed by the county show a grab bag of incentives, including Visa and Taco Bell gift cards, movie tickets, Tracfones and TriMet passes, all bought to encourage participation in county programs, according to OregonLive. The outlet reports that the Health Department temporarily halted new gift card purchases from late October through late November 2025 while staff completed required training.
During that pause, employees were told to turn in any unused cards and submit distribution logs for cards that had already gone out. Documents cited in the reporting show the Health Department spent about $165,152 on prepaid items in fiscal year 2025, while countywide spending on gift cards and other prepaid incentives topped $700,000 over that same period. According to OregonLive, county officials do not currently plan to audit whether any incentives that were purchased but never handed out have since expired.
What Comes Next
County leaders say the finance review will continue as auditors and department staff work to reconcile records and weigh possible process changes. Independent audits and reporting in recent years have highlighted deeper problems with how Multnomah County manages contracts and purchasing. In 2024, OPB reported that county contracting was hampered by delays and outdated policies, adding more urgency to fix weak spots around cash‑equivalent incentives.
For now, officials say the focus is on tracking down recipients, securing any unused cards still floating around and finishing the documentation cleanup. Only after that work is done, they say, will the county be in a position to decide whether policy changes or disciplinary steps are on the table.
