Growls

The big news out of Richmond this week was the release of the results of the audit of VDoT performance and financial management practices by the Governor Bob McDonnell administration. According to reporting by Tyler Whitley of the Richmond Times-Dispatch yesterday:

“An unwieldy Virginia Department of Transportation is sitting on $1 billion in reserve funds that could be used for new construction and maintenance, an independent audit ordered by Gov. Bob McDonnell has found.

"That is unacceptable," McDonnell said at a news conference yesterday. "Money has been sitting in the state's wallet while Virginians have been sitting in traffic."

“Because of the audit, $800 million to $900 million of maintenance and construction contracts will be awarded by Dec. 31, Secretary of Transportation Sean T. Connaughton said.”

The Washington Post also reported that:

“The bulk of the money comes from two sources: About $400 million had accumulated in construction and maintenance accounts while an additional $654 million in federal money was never allocated to any projects, the audit showed.”

Old Dominion Watchdog put it this way:

“During the 2010 fiscal year, the state didn’t spend $480 million that it was given for road and bridge maintenance. That carryover, on top of unused money from previous years, gives the state $529 million that it is not using. Over half of that, $318 million, is committed to contracts. But $200 million has not even been allocated to a contract.

“The audit says this is a result of projects taking too long to be approved and moved through the system. VDOT Commissioner Greg Whirley said that all projects see the same approval process, no matter how large or small they are.

“We manage … a simple turn lane just like we do a major interchange,” he said.”

Greater detail from the audit is available in this press release from the Governor's Office. In addition, the press release includes links to be the entire audit report and a summary of the audit in a PowerPoint presentation format.