We keep a close eye on the output of auditors’ offices in states and local governments. We’ll be reporting about them, as a regular feature on this website dubbed “Audit Watch.” Here’s the first one.
How transparent are processes for selecting one transportation project over another? Do they utilize understandable selection criteria and benefit cost analysis? The answer was no in Georgia, where a December 2016 audit criticized the selection process. Problems popped up in both documentation and stakeholder communication, with a poll of officials at Metropolitan Planning Organizations finding that 44 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement that the selection process was transparent.
“The Planning Division does not require any documentation or explanation for programming a low scoring project ahead of a high scoring project,” the audit said.