State auditor cites Nebraska DOT for overuse of vehicles, fuel, overtime
LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - The Nebraska State Auditor filed a report Tuesday that cites the Nebraska Department of Transportation for lax monitoring of state vehicle usage, fuel consumption, and overtime expenses.
In the report, State Auditor Mike Foley says that many of the NDOT’s 2,000 employees incurred “extraordinary” overtime expenses, and millions of dollars in operation of its fleet of vehicles.
“For those working to reign in the cost of State government operations, this agency is the land of opportunity,” Foley said in a news release. “The spate of excessive and unexplained spending here is stunning.”
This comes less than a week after Foley cited the Board of Parole for extensive misuse of state vehicles.
The report alleges that 71% of all NDOT employees booked overtime hours at a cost of over $6.5 Million; and that 37 employees increased their annual salaries by 40% or more with their overtime. One particular employee boosted their salary from $76,000 to $123,000 through OT claims.
A quirk in the NDOT’s accounting practices found that employees were being paid for unused leave which only gets paid out at termination of employment according to the report. That amounted to more than $770,000 was overpaid to NDOT employees.
In addition, the audit found many instances of vehicles being refueled multiple times within minutes, with NDOT not being able to explain how these vehicles needed that much refueling. Over 8,000 fuel transitions were not tied to any travel log.
In his conclusion, Foley was blunt:
“With over 4,000 government credit cards active and in play at the agency under shockingly weak accounting controls and thousands of purchases transacted at privately owned commercial gas pumps sprinkled across Nebraska, how can NDOT possibly know whose vehicles are really getting all that fuel?” Foley asked. “The simple truth is, they don’t.”
Foley recommended all future overtime claims for NDOT to be formally approved, to overhaul the travel, mileage, and fuel accounting controls for employee vehicle use, and to provide oversight for agency credit cards.
Read the full report
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