Whether the South Carolina Department of Transportation wasted millions of scarce dollars is only part of the problem that a recent audit revealed.
According to the audit the DOT has wasted millions that could have been used for repair work on the state's crumbling highways. The report from the Legislative Audit Council itemized some of the failings it found:
– DOT paid twice as much as needed to hire temporary employees;
– Wasted $32 million on unnecessarily high management fees;
– Prepaid almost $9 million for projects eliminated from two ongoing contracts;
– Spent $3 million on an extra project the federal government required in 2002 because of environmental violations.
If accurate, this misuse of money is costing each and every South Carolina taxpayer in terms of money and driving conditions.
More important than the money is the revelation that many lawmakers were unaware of exactly what is going on in DOT. It is part of the South Carolina government that has virtually no legislative or gubernatorial oversight and fairly well does as it pleases. DOT is run by the DOT Commission which is made up of an appointee from the governor and one member from each of the state's six congressional districts.
DOT says the audit is inaccurate and misleading. The full story may emerge in the next two days as two Senate subcommittees meet with the Audit Council and then the DOT staff to review the report. At this point it appears that at the very least heads should roll at DOT. The General Assembly should also take a close look at how the department is governed. It should ensure that neither DOT nor any other agency be able to spend taxpayers money without elected officials having full knowledge of how the money is used.
