DOT director defends agency to senators

SEANNA ADCOX

Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The director of the Department of Transportation disputed nearly half of the recommendations in an audit released this week that said the agency wasted millions of dollars.

Director Elizabeth Mabry called the audit unfair Friday because it focused only on the negatives.

"The state of South Carolina does not need to be bashed anymore, and neither does the DOT," Mabry told two Senate subcommittees reviewing the audit. "The people of South Carolina deserve to know the good along with the bad."

The 70-page report released Tuesday by the state Legislative Audit Council said the agency wasted millions by paying twice as much as necessary to hire temporary employees and prepaid nearly $9 million for projects eliminated from two ongoing contracts.

Senators heard from the audit council Thursday. "It's time to tell you the rest of the story," Mabry said Friday.

The DOT is open to change, Mabry said. The agency has already accepted 17 of the council's 44 recommendations, and said another nine already are under way.

But Mabry disagreed with 18 of the suggestions. She said the audit was wrong to say the DOT delayed billing for federal reimbursement during the legislative session in an effort to convince lawmakers the agency needed more money.

She provided documentation showing the agency bills after the federal government allocates money. Mabry said she gave the evidence to the audit council and was offended the accusation still showed up in the report.

"When we bill is not tied to the legislative session. It's tied to funding. We bill when we can," Mabry said. "I am an honest person. I would not lie to you or try to hide funds from you and resent the implication."

Bob Lee, a division administrator for the Federal Highway Administration, supported Mabry, saying, "As funds were coming in, we were getting bills and paying those bills."

Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Bonneau, questioned why, in one instance, the agency billed the federal government more than a month after funds became available. He said it made sense to have a bill ready to send as soon as the federal government allocated it.

Preparing a federal transportation bill takes several hundred transactions that, in other states, are handled by an accounting staff four times as big as the on in South Carolina, Lee said.

"We will find a way to do it better, but we did not intentionally hide money from the Legislature," Mabry said.

After the meeting, Grooms, chairman of one of the two subcommittees, said he has "more questions now than I did when we started the hearings" because there are big differences in what the audit council and Transportation Department says.

The subcommittees will question the audit council again in the next few weeks.

Other items Mabry defended included allegations the agency wasted $32 million on high management fees of 4.5 percent, rather than the 2 percent one firm suggested. She said the agency hired construction management firms in order to cram 27 years worth of projects into seven years, and after intense negotiations, settled on a higher fee that was a better deal for taxpayers.

The lower fee only guaranteed projects would be completed on time, while the agency negotiated contracts that required projects to be done safely, on time, and on or under budget, Mabry said.

"I'm not apologizing to anyone for that program," Mabry said. "There's nothing I would do differently and, to me, I think we were very successful."

Getting the projects done early saved taxpayers at least $3 billion in inflation, Mabry said.

"It is evident there are two sides to the story," Sen. Yancey McGill said.

He thanked Mabry for answering senators' questions. "We have saved billions of dollars for the citizens of this state. I see areas of improvement, but let's put the right spin on this," said McGill, D-Kingstree.

Gov. Mark Sanford said earlier this week the audit should serve as a wake-up call for the need to restructure state government. Sanford reiterated that he wants to make the Transportation Department director a Cabinet position appointed by the governor.

Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, chairman of the other subcommittee, said he would support restructuring the Transportation Commission which oversees the DOT by allowing the governor to appoint all members with legislative approval. Now, the governor appoints only the chairman while the rest of the board is selected by lawmakers.