MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The Latest on Audit Committee hearing on Wisconsin Department of Transportation (all times local):
2:05 p.m.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation would have to account for inflation in its cost estimates for highway projects under a bill by the Legislature’s Audit Committee.
The panel introduced the measure Tuesday at the conclusion of a hearing on a scathing audit of the Transportation Department. One of the biggest problems the audit found was that the department did not account for inflation that led to dramatic cost overruns.
The bill would incorporate recommendations of the audit. It would require the DOT to include all costs associated with the project, including inflation, when making an estimate for approval by the Transportation Projects Commission.
The DOT would also be required to report annually to the Legislature and explain any changes in initial cost estimates and whether projects are still on time.
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1 p.m.
Wisconsin Department of Transportation Secretary Dave Ross says he shares in lawmakers’ frustration with how the agency is operating.
Ross testified Tuesday before the Legislature’s Audit Committee. The panel is reviewing a highly critical audit of the department that was released last month.
Ross blames a failure of the department’s management, including not keeping lawmakers aware of increasing costs, and he pledged to improve. That includes implementing all of the recommendations of the audit, he said.
He says, “We need to change the culture at DOT” to become more “performance driven” and accurate.
Republican Sen. Chris Kapenga says he is “extremely concerned” with how the department was reaching its cost estimates. He says giving the department more money would “absolutely be the wrong thing to do.”
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11:15 a.m.
The Legislature’s Audit Committee is expected to introduce a bill that would require the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to estimate the cost of inflation on projects and report any changes to lawmakers.
The committee was expected to introduce the proposal Tuesday as it holds a public hearing on a highly critical audit that discovered massive cost overruns on highway projects.
The bill expected to be introduced would require the DOT to include all costs associated with the project, including inflation, when making an estimate for approval by the Transportation Projects Commission.
The department would also be required to report annually to the Legislature the full project cost estimates both at the time the work is approved, how much has been spent as of the time of the report and an explanation of any changes.
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10:02 a.m.
Officials with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation are facing lawmakers publicly to answer questions about a highly critical audit that discovered massive cost overruns on major projects and numbers other problems.
The hearing Tuesday before the Legislature’s Audit Committee comes as the Legislature is debating how to address a nearly $1 billion shortfall in the roads budget. Gov. Scott Walker has insisted on not raising gas taxes or other fees to pay for it, while Assembly Republican leaders say that should be in the mix.
The audit released in January gave fodder to both sides to make their arguments. It found that major highway projects in Wisconsin over the past decade have cost twice as much as the state Department of Transportation initially estimated.
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