State Auditor Sonntag plays hardball over "dumb" cut to ... Sound Politics, WA CROSSCUT -- Gregoire on the spot over performance audits -- The Legislature's proposed gutting of the performance-audit program is inexcusable ... they have uncovered practices by WSDOT, the Port of Seattle, Sound Transit, and other agencies which ...

According to the Washington Policy Center (click here), State Auditor Brian Sonntag is fighting cuts in his department, arguing that his department’s work saves the state money by pinpointing waste:

“What particularly disappoints me is that the effects of this budget come at a time when our Office is looked upon to be part of the solution. Every discussion we’ve had with legislative leadership and the Governor centered on how we can help bring about meaningful, cost-saving government reform.

We’ve already got several performance audits underway with the intent to identify immediate cost savings as well as long-term efficiencies.“

How does that relate to transportation projects & budgets? Surely a review of Sound Transit, WSDOT, etc, would identify efficiencies and areas to revise spending, as Sonntag’s office has already done with distinction in other areas.

Sonntag’s comments to the Senate Ways and Means Committee :

“This budget does not recognize the value our performance audits have produced so far.

To date, we have completed 15 performance audits of state and local governments that have produced a ratio of 10 dollars saved to one dollar spent. That’s a wise investment.

For state government alone, our audits have recommended nearly $500 million in potential savings.

One audit concluded that four of the largest state agencies could collect $320 million in delinquent debt owed to the state simply by following industry best practices. That’s an additional $320 million that should be in the state’s pocket. “

Ballot measures: Hate 'em, but here's how I'm voting Crosscut, WA - 7 hours ago Sound Transit, light rail's prime- and sub-contractors, and the network of law firms, PR firms, consultants, and others profiting from light rail have ...

KIRO Team 7 Investigations have prompted: “the State Auditor to launch an inquiry into why hundreds of thousands of your transportation tax dollars are being funneled to a charity.”

“Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne spent weeks unraveling how some major transit agencies might be skirting laws on lobbying and gifting.

The law generally prohibits government entities from collecting taxes from you, then using that money to lobby for ballot measures or tax increase initiatives. We discovered that Sound Transit, King County Metro and some other taxing authorities may have figured out a way around that.”

The whole article is pretty interesting- Sound Transit and other public agencies, as well as cities are all giving money to Transportation Choices Coalition:

“The Washington Policy Center says it found out that Sound Transit donated at least $156,000 to Transportation Choices in the past 10 years. That’s something we confirmed through Open Records.

WPC transportation director Mike Ennis says, “Even the most casual taxpayers can see the conflict of interest when you have a public agency giving money to an organization that lobbies on behalf of that organization. That’s not what public money is intended for. It doesn’t matter how noble the cause is for some of these groups.”

Again, using the Open Records Ace, KIRO Team 7 Investigators discovered Sound Transit is just one of at least 15 government agencies donating your tax money to Transportation Choices via something labeled “membership dues.”

Sound Transit recently donated $22,000.

King County Metro handed over $30,000.

Other transit agencies donating to TCC via membership dues in 2008 include: Community Transit, Pierce Transit, Intercity Transit, Whatcom Transportation Authority, Ben Franklin/Richland Transit, Spokane Transit and Kitsap County Transit.

Other government agencies that contributed your tax dollars to TCC’s charity include the cities of Seattle, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish and Edmonds. The Port of Seattle donated as well.”

The concern is expressed here:

“We called State Auditor Brian Sonntag and showed him the financial relationships we uncovered. He tells us he will open a formal inquiry.

Sonntag told Halsne during on on-camera interview, “They can’t ‘give’ your tax money away.

There has to be a benefit.

My first general impression is that there are a lot of questions — a lot of questions that need to be answered on behalf of citizens and tax payers. This is a lot of money.”

Washington law says that if your tax money is given to charity, there has to be a specific return, something of documented value given back. Lobbying can’t legally be that value and, according to Sonntag the label “membership dues” isn’t specific enough.“Membership to what? That would be my first question. I mean, it is a club? An organization? What are your dues paying for? That’s a question that citizens have a right to an answer.”

The audit will at least point out how pervasive this practice is.

Read the full article at: http://www.kirotv.com/investigations/16811658/detail.html

Group questions Sound Transit contributions Seattle Post Intelligencer - Jul 8, 2008 By LARRY LANGE A Seattle think-tank frequently critical of Sound Transit has raised questions about contributions made by the agency to groups that ...

Washington Policy Center released a new report showing Sound Transit officials using public money to contribute to special interest groups. The study was featured in an investigative report on KIRO (CBS) television this evening (video of the story is available here). Through public disclosure requests, Sound Transit provided a list of non-governmental interest groups that have received direct financial contributions from the agency since it received taxing authority. According to Sound Transit records, the agency has contributed more than $164,000 to special interest groups ...

Team 7 Investigation Sparks State Audit Of Sound Transit KIROtv.com, WA - 18 hours ago We discovered that Sound Transit, King County Metro and some other taxing authorities may have figured out a way around that. With gas prices skyrocketing, ...

Reporter Larry Lange at the Seattle P-I reports that the Washington State Auditor’s Office is going to conduct, among other things, and audit of Sound Transit to see whether:

• “Whether its publicly disseminated financial information can be understood and is useful.

• The audit also will examine whether its public meetings are convenient for citizens and how “transparent” the agency is.“

Here are a few answers to those questions:

1. Public meetings of the Sound Transit Board are held in the afternoon (4pm) when most people are at work and unable to attend.

Usually the bulk of the people who attend these meetings are:

* paid contractors and consultants who make their living off of Sound Transit’s public funds,

* city representatives that support light rail alignments that bring said tax dollars to their respective cities,

* elected officials whose future candidacies and fundraising abilities depend on appearing to go along & get along with large public agencies such as Sound Transit,

* developers and property owners who would directly benefit from the accompanying land use upzoning (increase in allowed development density) along proposed light rail corridors (see Martin Luther King Way South), and

* a handful of regular citizens and/or agency critics attending in order to speak to the Sound Transit Board.

2. The public is usually instructed that they can only speak about “action items” on the agenda for discussion and direction on by the Sound Transit Board that particular day, by which time, a citizen has little or no impact on the thinking of Board members or the process.

3. Transparency-hmmm. The smallest request for information can result in a redirect to the public information officer, who then requires citizens to ask for information through a public disclosure process which can take weeks or months.

4. Sound Transit routinely cherry picks their result-driven (push) polls & surveys to their desired outcome, and then proclaims broad support for light rail tax packages that is tenuous at best.

5. This is the public agency that hid information (buried so deep in a website) regarding taking the Miller property in Tacoma, that the Washington State Legislature later hastened to create a NEW LAW to protect home and property owners, and REQUIRE Sound Transit to at the very minimum to NOTIFY people by certified letter when they were about to take their property. Does that seem voluntarily transparent?

Does this behavior bleed over into the usefulness or accessibility of the financial information that they provide to the public? Very possibly.

Lange reports that Mindy Chambers, spokesperson for the state Auditor’s Office, says that her office gets more questions about the Seattle-based agency (Sound Transit) “than pretty much anything else.“

Auditor plans another look at Sound Transit Seattle Post Intelligencer - 18 hours ago By LARRY LANGE Another major audit of Sound Transit is planned this year, this time to focus on how well the agency manages itself and its future financial ...

State Auditor Brian Sonntag has come a long way for a Pierce County guy. His nearly 16 years in office make him the longest-serving statewide incumbent. And now he's shooting for 20 years. He's the darling of the conservative radio talk shows. Even Tim Eyman is a fan. Who would have thought insider language like "performance audit" would work its way into everyday lexicon.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Washington State Auditor Brian Sonntag today announced his candidacy for re-election, pledging to continue serving as the taxpayers’ ...