State audit finds tax money misspent

Associated Press

OLYMPIA — Millions of tax dollars were either misspent or poorly monitored last year, according to a report compiled by state Auditor Brian Sonntag.

He listed 13 examples, including subsidized health care for people who aren’t eligible, $1 million in satellite fees the state Horse Racing Commission failed to collect between 1999 and 2000, poor monitoring of prescription drugs at Western State Hospital and — for the 14th consecutive year — inadequate monitoring by the Washington State Ferries of the $100 million it collects from passengers each year.

Sonntag, an elected Democrat, told a Seattle newspaper this is the first time his office has lumped a year’s worth of routine audit results into one report on government accountability.

Reviewing them all at once puts them in better context, Sonntag said: "The only enforcement tool an auditor has is the public light of day."

Sonntag is lobbying for authority to audit agency performance as well as finances.

Last year, the Legislature gave Sonntag’s office $300,000 to conduct three performance audits as a pilot program, but Gov. Gary Locke vetoed the provision, saying there was no compelling reason to conduct the audits.

"Reports like this current audit report show just the opposite," Sonntag said. "Working with agencies to help them do their jobs better is a compelling reason."

Locke spokesman Pearse Edwards said the governor vetoed the audits last year because he felt they would duplicate work by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee, which conducts performance audits at the request of the Legislature.

This year, the governor supports a bill that would enact a new approach to performance audits and includes a scoring system, Edwards said.

Agencies often respond positively to audits, seeing them as opportunities to improve rather than as bad report cards, Sonntag said.

The state Health Care Authority, for example, responded to findings that it had provided inadequate oversight to the state Basic Health Plan with assurances that it would begin annually reviewing the eligibility of every Basic Health Plan patient by the end of this year.

According to the audit, the authority did not verify income records, did not know how much it had been overpaid and allowed 37,000 subscribers to enroll, even though they did not provide sufficient proof of eligibility. That left more than 4,100 people on a waiting list.

"We take our responsibility for providing responsible stewardship of public funds very seriously, so we are very concerned about the gravity of the findings," said the authority’s administrator, Ida Zodrow.

The response by the state ferry system is also promising, Sonntag said, noting that the agency has shown more willingness this year to address shortcomings in how it monitors ferry fares.

Responses from other agencies to the findings were mixed, with some agencies questioning the accuracy of Sonntag’s audits.