MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The Latest on Wisconsin Department of Transportation audit (all times local):
2:20 p.m.
Republican legislative leaders say a new audit detailing cost overruns at the Department of Transportation is disconcerting and demonstrates the need for a long-term solution.
The audit released Thursday found that completed and ongoing projects at DOT are costing twice as much as initially estimated because of inflation, delays and other unexpected cost increases.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald says the report is disconcerting but he is confident DOT will take immediate steps to improve.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says the audit shows that “Wisconsin is trying to do too much with too little and taxpayers are not getting their money’s worth.”
He is advocating for increasing transportation-related taxes and fees by $300 million, with corresponding tax cuts elsewhere, to pay for roads.
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12:25 p.m.
Democrats are accusing Gov. Scott Walker and Republicans of failing to address declining road conditions and problems at the state Department of Transportation identified in a new audit.
The report released Thursday says the department failed to account for inflation in cost estimates and major highway work has ended up being twice as much as initially projected. The audit also says Wisconsin road conditions have declined steadily between 2010 and 2015.
Democratic state Sen. Jon Erpenbach calls the audit “shocking” and says “our infrastructure is falling apart before our eyes.”
Democratic Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca says neglect of roads under Republicans the past six years is inexcusable and unacceptable. He says “we are in a crisis state and we need to take immediate action.”
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11:55 a.m.
One of the leaders of the Legislature’s audit committee is calling a highly critical audit of the state Department of Transportation a “roadmap for improvement.”
The audit released Thursday faults DOT for dramatically underestimating project costs. The report found the state could have saved $296 million over the last decade if the agency had followed engineering performance measures, met quarterly goals for soliciting construction bids, gotten two bids on 363 contracts that got only one and met annual on-budget performance measures for state highway projects.
Republican Rep. Samantha Kerkman co-chairs the Joint Audit Committee. She said in a news release Thursday that the potential savings were significant and a missed opportunity. She says the audit is a roadmap for improvement and DOT must prioritize giving taxpayers the biggest bang for their transportation dollars.
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10:45 a.m.
The head of the state Department of Transportation says the agency will work to implement recommendations in a highly critical audit but he’s not accepting every point in the report.
The Legislative Audit Bureau report released Thursday faults the DOT for dramatically underestimating project costs. DOT Secretary Dave Ross wrote in a letter attached to the report that the agency has worked to improve cost projections over the last six years and the audit examined projects dating as far back as the 1980s. He added that estimating costs is always risky and other states, including Minnesota, have seen project cost overruns.
He took issue with findings that DOT doesn’t comply with administrative rules and policies on public notification of future projects, saying the agency is in full compliance with state and federal notification requirements.
Still, he says the agency will comply with the audit’s recommendations.
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10:10 a.m.
Gov. Scott Walker and the state Department of Transportation Secretary Dave Ross say a highly critical audit of the agency’s operations won’t change their opposition to increasing gas taxes or vehicle fees.
The Legislative Audit Bureau report released Thursday found that completed major highway projects over the past decade cost twice as much as first estimated. It faulted the department for not doing a better job at estimating costs.
Walker spokesman Tom Evenson says the audit shows more savings can be found at the department and that should be pursued before taxes go up. Ross says the audit “provides a roadmap to improved efficiency and transparency at the DOT.”
Republican state Sen. Rob Cowles calls the audit “devastating” and says change at DOT is needed.
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9:45 a.m.
An audit finds that major highway projects completed in Wisconsin over the past decade cost twice as much as initially estimated.
The findings in a Legislative Audit Bureau report released Thursday come as the state Department of Transportation faces a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall.
The report finds that estimated costs for 19 major projects completed between 2006 and 2016 were $1.5 billion. That is $772 million more than initially projected.
The audit also finds that the estimated costs of 16 ongoing major highway projects have increased by $3.1 billion.
The Audit Bureau recommends that DOT use its money more effectively and improve how it manages the planning, engineering, construction and maintenance of state highways.
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9:35 a.m.
A Republican state senator says a highly critical audit of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is “devastating” and will force major changes at the agency.
The nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau released its highly anticipated report Thursday. It found that DOT dramatically underestimated costs of completed and ongoing projects and failed to take into account inflation and other unexpected cost increases.
Sen. Rob Cowles is co-chairman of the Legislature’s Audit Committee. He tells WHBY that the audit “will be devastating to the management of DOT.” He says, “They have to do this whole thing differently.”
DOT Secretary Mark Gottlieb resigned three weeks ago. Gov. Scott Walker had no immediate comment on the audit.
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9:10 a.m.
A highly critical audit of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation says the agency budgeted to complete more highway projects than could be done with the money available because it didn’t take into account inflation and unexpected cost increases.
The much anticipated Legislative Audit Bureau report also says the department could have done more to control engineering, construction and maintenance costs and it is not consistently using performance measures to improve its operations.
The report comes as the department faces a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall. Gov. Scott Walker has insisted on solving that without raising taxes or fees, while Assembly Republicans have called for $300 million in increases offset by unnamed tax cuts elsewhere.
The audit says the cost of 16 ongoing major highway projects increased more than $3 billion from the time they were approved to August 2016.
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8:50 a.m.
A long-awaited audit of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is about to be released.
The report from the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau was to be released at 9 a.m. Thursday. Lawmakers were briefed on the audit Wednesday night.
The audit comes as Gov. Scott Walker and the Legislature are grappling with how to deal with a nearly $1 billion transportation budget shortfall. Walker has pledged to solve it with more borrowing and roadwork delays.
But Assembly Republicans are calling for $300 million in transportation-related tax and fee increases along with corresponding tax cuts elsewhere.
Walker’s transportation secretary Mark Gottlieb resigned effective Jan. 6 as the audit was pending.
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