"It's incredible. It boggles the mind."
Strayhorn plans to audit toll road agency
Scrutiny of mobility authority was requested by opponents of turnpike plan
October 2, 2004
Ben Wear
Austin American-Statesman
Copyright 2006
Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, responding to a request from two dissidents in the fight over a Central Texas toll road plan, said she will audit the local agency that would run those tollways.
State Rep. Terry Keel, R-Austin, and Austin City Council Member Brewster McCracken, who voted for the toll road plan but has since had second thoughts, asked Strayhorn to "immediately begin a comprehensive audit of the expenditures and operations of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority."
Keel and McCracken, in a news conference Friday, said they asked for Strayhorn's intervention after reading that the authority board decided Wednesday to spend up to $750,000 over the next two years on a marketing campaign for its coming tollways.
The authority, which through a contractor had previously authorized about $700,000 in public outreach contracts, is planning to award that contract to a team led by Austin public relations firm TateAustin, pending final negotiations.
"No one in the Legislature would expect that a toll authority that was just created would spend over a million dollars on public relations," Keel said. "It's incredible. It boggles the mind."
Mike Heiligenstein, executive director of the mobility authority, said the agency's books are already under scrutiny.
He said the Texas Department of Transportation, which more than a year ago made a $12.7 million grant to the authority for initial work on the U.S. 183-A toll road, recently completed an audit of spending under that grant.
The findings, Heiligenstein said, were two pages long and contained only "minor adjustments."
A second outside audit of the agency by Helin, Donovan, Trubee & Wilkinson, an Austin auditing firm, is currently under way, Heiligenstein said.
Bob Tesch, the authority's board chairman appointed by Gov. Rick Perry, hinted that Keel might be making hay to benefit Strayhorn.
A potential Perry challenger in the 2006 Republican primary, Strayhorn has clashed repeatedly with the governor over the past year. Most recently, she called for a slowdown in the toll road push that is a centerpiece of Perry's transportation policy.
"We don't want to get involved in any GOP primary politics, which is what I suspect that (call for an audit) amounts to," Tesch said. "But if the Legislature would like to amend the statute to require that all RMAs (regional mobility authorities) be audited by the comptroller's office, we would be supportive of that."
The mobility authority and the state Transportation Department in April released a $2.2 billion plan with nine toll roads, including seven that required approval by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization board.
That panel of mostly local elected officials, including Keel and McCracken, approved putting toll charges on those seven roads in a 16-7 vote in July. Keel voted against the plan, McCracken for it. But McCracken has since called for amending the plan to take out roads that would be built exclusively with gasoline tax dollars.
The mobility authority, approaching its second birthday, was created by Travis and Williamson County commissioners under a 2001 state law.
Each Commissioners Court has given the mobility authority, which cannot levy taxes and ultimately will be supported by toll revenue, more than $500,000 over the past two years for startup costs.
The grant from the state Transportation Department was given specifically for work on U.S. 183-A, the agency's first project, and administrative expenses related to that project.
The public outreach contracts were awarded -- at the behest of the mobility authority -- by the engineering contractor for the U.S. 183-A project, but some of the consultants also worked on efforts related to the seven-road plan approved in July.
bwear@statesman.com; 445-3698
© 2004 Austin American-Statesman: www.statesman.com
Scrutiny of mobility authority was requested by opponents of turnpike plan
October 2, 2004
Ben Wear
Austin American-Statesman
Copyright 2006
Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, responding to a request from two dissidents in the fight over a Central Texas toll road plan, said she will audit the local agency that would run those tollways.
State Rep. Terry Keel, R-Austin, and Austin City Council Member Brewster McCracken, who voted for the toll road plan but has since had second thoughts, asked Strayhorn to "immediately begin a comprehensive audit of the expenditures and operations of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority."
Keel and McCracken, in a news conference Friday, said they asked for Strayhorn's intervention after reading that the authority board decided Wednesday to spend up to $750,000 over the next two years on a marketing campaign for its coming tollways.
The authority, which through a contractor had previously authorized about $700,000 in public outreach contracts, is planning to award that contract to a team led by Austin public relations firm TateAustin, pending final negotiations.
"No one in the Legislature would expect that a toll authority that was just created would spend over a million dollars on public relations," Keel said. "It's incredible. It boggles the mind."
Mike Heiligenstein, executive director of the mobility authority, said the agency's books are already under scrutiny.
He said the Texas Department of Transportation, which more than a year ago made a $12.7 million grant to the authority for initial work on the U.S. 183-A toll road, recently completed an audit of spending under that grant.
The findings, Heiligenstein said, were two pages long and contained only "minor adjustments."
A second outside audit of the agency by Helin, Donovan, Trubee & Wilkinson, an Austin auditing firm, is currently under way, Heiligenstein said.
Bob Tesch, the authority's board chairman appointed by Gov. Rick Perry, hinted that Keel might be making hay to benefit Strayhorn.
A potential Perry challenger in the 2006 Republican primary, Strayhorn has clashed repeatedly with the governor over the past year. Most recently, she called for a slowdown in the toll road push that is a centerpiece of Perry's transportation policy.
"We don't want to get involved in any GOP primary politics, which is what I suspect that (call for an audit) amounts to," Tesch said. "But if the Legislature would like to amend the statute to require that all RMAs (regional mobility authorities) be audited by the comptroller's office, we would be supportive of that."
The mobility authority and the state Transportation Department in April released a $2.2 billion plan with nine toll roads, including seven that required approval by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization board.
That panel of mostly local elected officials, including Keel and McCracken, approved putting toll charges on those seven roads in a 16-7 vote in July. Keel voted against the plan, McCracken for it. But McCracken has since called for amending the plan to take out roads that would be built exclusively with gasoline tax dollars.
The mobility authority, approaching its second birthday, was created by Travis and Williamson County commissioners under a 2001 state law.
Each Commissioners Court has given the mobility authority, which cannot levy taxes and ultimately will be supported by toll revenue, more than $500,000 over the past two years for startup costs.
The grant from the state Transportation Department was given specifically for work on U.S. 183-A, the agency's first project, and administrative expenses related to that project.
The public outreach contracts were awarded -- at the behest of the mobility authority -- by the engineering contractor for the U.S. 183-A project, but some of the consultants also worked on efforts related to the seven-road plan approved in July.
bwear@statesman.com; 445-3698
© 2004 Austin American-Statesman:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Sunday, October 02, 2005
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