Massachusetts state agencies loaded more than $10.8 million in purchases onto taxpayer-funded credit cards last fiscal year, with some of the top charges focused on hotels and catering, according to data released to the Herald.

Officials in departments, agencies, commissions, and divisions across state government have access to procurement cards, a payment method that provides the convenience of a credit card but is typically paid off with public funds.

Purchases ranged in fiscal year 2024 from a stay at a five-star hotel paid for with a procurement card linked to Gov. Maura Healey’s office to computer software subscriptions in the Legislature, according to records from the Office of the Comptroller provided through a public records request.

But the top five most expensive procurement card charges from the last fiscal year, which are listed below, were found in the same agency — the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

Top five payments:

Executive Office of Health and Human Services: $67,514 to Melodias, a restaurant in Boston, on Aug. 17, 2023.
Executive Office of Health and Human Services: $60,345 to Holiday Inns on Aug. 9, 2023.
Executive Office of Health and Human Services: $53,167 to a Marriott in Quincy on July 11, 2023.
Executive Office of Health and Human Services: $52,857 to Holiday Inn on Sept. 28, 2023.
Executive Office of Health and Human Services: $52,555 to Holiday Inn on Aug. 25, 2023.

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