Municipal auditors presented the Roanoke City Council's audit committee Monday with a report finding that the use of city-issued credit cards by government employees appears to be reasonable.

In response to questions from council members, Municipal Auditor Drew Harmon said the city has "a pretty good system in place" for monitoring for potential abuse.

About 700 employees -- 40 percent of the city's work force -- are issued the purchase cards, or "P cards" with about half of them using the cards in an average month to travel out of town on city business, buy equipment and office supplies, pay bills and cover various other government expenses.

Harmon and his team examined about 500 P card transactions by two city departments -- civic facilities and human resources. The audit revealed "nothing of a significant nature," Harmon said.

Councilman Sherman Lea asked about the potential for "widespread abuse," and Harmon said that based on those two departments, the city has good controls in place.

Roanoke City Manager Darlene Burcham said that one up-side to issuing more than 700 P cards is that purchases can be tracked to individuals rather than just to a city department.

Auditors also presented a report of the city's telephone system. Harmon said that while "in general things are very good," there could be some improvement in documenting procedures. His team also found that the city had been overcharged by more than $30,000 over the past three years and could potentially overpay an additional $50,000 over the next five years if it did not make sure to verify invoices. Verizon tentatively has agreed to reimburse the city for the overcharges, Harmon said.

The Audit Committee did not receive any information about an ongoing audit of spending by city council members on meals and travel.

Possible designs shown for bus stop shelter

Council members got a sneak peak at two designs Monday for a proposed bus stop shelter to be built at Patrick Henry High School as early as this fall.

The Greater Roanoke Transit Co. is working with the city and both city high schools to produce original designs for two shelters as a display of public art. The shelter at PH, to be located near a grove of trees between the school's entrance and Brandon Avenue, will be the first of the two shelters to be completed.

Bassett artist Ed Dolinger and half a dozen students from teacher Jennifer Fowler's art class started working on designs for the shelter two months ago and have since narrowed their choices down to two.

"We really wanted to come up with something unique, not just an off-the-rack bus shelter," Dolinger said.

The students will return to the council to present a final design this summer. A similar project is also in the works for William Fleming High School.

Staff writer Laurence Hammack contributed to this report.