Audit says state agency 'lost control'

The state's Department of Management Services, headed by Secretary Linda South, is under the gun following an audit claiming the agency's lack of oversight and meddling by judges led to excess spending on the new First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee.

The $48.8 million project has come to be known as the “Taj Mahal” building for its granite countertops, etched glass, ornamental woodwork and flat screen televisions. It's the only courthouse ever built by the state with bond funds ($33.5 million of the cost) according to a letter accompanying the audit from Alex Sink, Florida CFO and Democratic candidate for governor.

Sink released the 47-page audit Oct. 12 along with the letter addressed to Gov. Charlie Crist and Chief Justice Charles Canady. Sink requested the audit in August. Crist is an independent candidate for U.S. Senate.

Accompanying the letter is the audit, laying out 17 findings claiming the Department of Management Services — a department of Crist's administration — violated Florida statutes, the Florida Administrative Code or generally acceptable internal control practices. A press release issued by Sink says the agency “lost control of the project and spent millions more of taxpayers dollars than was necessary to build this courthouse.”

In her letter, Sink objects to one source of funding used to cover a change to further expand the scope of the building. “In 2008, $5.5 million in extra funding for the courthouse project was taken from the Workers' Compensation Trust Fund, over and above the bond funding and despite resolute objection from my office.”

But according to Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, chairman of the Senate's Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee, using the trust funds was legitimate. “The Legislature made the decision to use the workers' compensation dollars to handle the increased workers' compensation workload,” Sen. Crist says.

And the larger courthouse allows the appellate court to consolidate all of the workers' compensation cases, generating efficiencies, Crist says.

The audit shows that the appeals court — headed by Chief Judge Paul Hawkes — though not a party to the construction contract, listed Hawkes as the agency contact person. It also shows that the state agency obligated nearly $6.7 million to the project before a guaranteed maximum price was agreed to, compromising the state's ability to negotiate a most favorable price, according to the audit.

According to the audit: “The total costs of the building significantly increased during the planning phase due to the expanded scope in square feet, custom fixtures and high-end finishes such as granite, etched glass and ornamental woodwork.”