(Picture credit Matt Johnson)
On Tuesday, the Nebraska State Auditor’s office issued a letter to the Douglas County Board of Commissioners citing significant waste in the Douglas County General Assistance program.
The Plains Sentinel spoke with State Auditor Mike Foley about the report, and Foley did not mince words.
“I think this program is an assault on the property taxpayers of Douglas County,” he said.
From 2023 through 2025, the program provided $8.64 million in shelter, cremation, and bus-ticket assistance, plus $759,425 in Dollar General gift cards. Administrative costs totaled nearly $7 million — 74 cents for every dollar of aid, Foley said.
Auditors highlighted the 25,927 Dollar General gift cards. In a sample of 100 cards, a large share of the value went to items the program does not allow.
“It costs the county taxpayers 74 cents to give away a dollar, and much of that dollar is being wasted on alcohol, tobacco, candy, toys, and so forth,” Foley said. “This is really a debacle, and I think they’ve got to shelve this whole idea of giving away gift cards. It doesn’t work.”
Oversight of the cards was almost nonexistent, Foley said.
“Their records are abysmal, and [there’s] really no way for them to know who’s really using the card and what it is being used for,” he said. “We had to go to Dollar General and get some records and prove how the card’s being misspent. But who actually used the card? Nobody knows.”
Melissa Sewick, director of Douglas County General Assistance, said administrative costs should be viewed in light of the department’s work, not as a simple ratio of overhead to aid.
“A direct comparison between personnel costs and the amount of financial assistance issued does not, by itself, measure program efficiency,” Sewick told The Plains Sentinel. She stated that staff determine eligibility, verify income and resources, monitor cases, and meet clients face to face, and that some spending classified as administrative — including $412,376 in Board-approved matching funds for detox services — still serves the same population.
On the gift cards, Sewick said the department had looked at vendors that could block alcohol and tobacco. Walmart offered restricted cards but “was unable or unwilling to accommodate the volume of cards the Department would require,” she said.
Sewick called the auditor’s review “a valuable opportunity” to strengthen controls. The county’s full written reply is Attachment A of the letter from the State Auditor’s office.
Foley, however, felt that the program itself may not be able to be fixed.
“The whole program needs to be revisited, and perhaps removed and replaced with something else,” he said.
— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.