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SENATOR DAVE ARONBERG ANNOUNCES HALTING OF DOT RAISES TO PRIVATE CONTRACTORS
Calls on Governor Crist to direct all state agencies to seek similar savings – more than $10 million and counting - for Florida taxpayers
TALLAHASSEE - Two weeks after launching a probe into the little known practice by state agencies of awarding lucrative annual raises to private contractors, state Senator Dave Aronberg (D-Greenacres) on Thursday announced that the Department of Transportation has begun slamming the brakes on the bonuses.
The Greenacres Democrat also called on Governor Charlie Crist to follow the lead of his transportation secretary and order other state agencies under his control to immediately implement similar cost saving measures.
“This search for information began out of alarm,” said Sen. Aronberg, a long-time watchdog on privatization issues. “Alarm that there was no accountability or transparency into the decisions by agencies to approve these raises for private companies doing business with the state. And alarm that as Florida’s economy continues to struggle, lawmakers – who ultimately were responsible for earmarking the funds for these raises – continued to take aim at state employees, including law enforcement and other emergency personnel – for cuts or elimination.
“I commend the DOT secretary for taking the first steps towards accountability for awarding, negotiating and managing private contractors in a manner that will provide the most economical, efficient and effective services to the citizens of the State of Florida. And I urge the governor to direct his other state agencies to begin plugging similar drains on our limited dollars. Private contractors ought to be responsible for their own employees’ raises. Not the taxpayers of Florida.”
The move by the transportation agency came in a response to a public records request Sen. Aronberg made to both DOT and the Department of Environmental Protection, seeking information on the so-called “escalation clauses” routinely awarded to private firms under contract with the state. The little-known bonuses have been consistently doled out for years, but were first made public by Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson (D-Tallahassee) during the waning days of the 2009 Legislative Session. Efforts by the Democratic Leader to halt the practice pending a review by government auditors were not successful.
In a letter sent Tuesday, DOT Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos wrote that in response to Sen. Aronberg’s public records request, and “recognizing the same budget issues you addressed…I have instituted a statewide policy eliminating any salary modification terms from new contracts and new amendments to existing contracts. The Department has also implemented a statewide contract review and renegotiation process to reduce the extent and impact of salary modification terms that may be included in existing consultant contracts.”
Although a full financial accounting has yet to be provided, Sen. Aronberg said that the preliminary information supplied by the transportation agency in an accompanying 27-page spread sheet suggests taxpayers could be in for significant savings as a result of the change in policy. According to DOT documents, the agency has already reduced by more than $10 million the amount earmarked for private raises from just the contracts reviewed thus far.
“In just one agency’s case, it appears these escalation clauses account for over $10 million and likely that number will climb,” Sen. Aronberg said. “Once DEP complies, I expect we may see similar amounts for which taxpayers would have been on the hook had the bonuses not been discovered.”
The remainder of Sen. Aronberg’s public records request is expected to take several months to provide, according to the DOT.
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