‘Deeper type’ of financial audit on CTIB, Met Council draws Otto’s ire

Rep. Linda Runbeck (R-Circle Pines) is proposing “a much deeper type” of financial oversight on two regional transportation agencies despite objections by officials of the targeted Met Council, some DFLers and State Auditor Rebecca Otto, who claims the effort is redundant with what her office is already undertaking.

Runbeck’s bill, HF1160, would direct the Office of the Legislative Auditor to review and analyze both the Met Council’s transit arm and the Counties Transit Improvement Board every quarter. The bill doesn’t appropriate a specific amount to the legislative auditor’s office, but a Minnesota Management and Budget fiscal note estimates a one-time $130,000 expense for nine reviews.

Rep. Linda Runbeck

Runbeck said the oversight could extend to the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, too.

The House State Government Finance Committee on Wednesday laid it over for possible omnibus bill inclusion. Its companion, SF1011, sponsored by Sen. Roger Chamberlain (R-Lino Lakes), awaits action on the Senate floor.

It’s an “operational review, a performance review, really to see, in the course of things, if we are getting what we expected out of this process,” Runbeck said. “We’re at a point in time where CTIB is desiring to dissolve … so we’re at a juncture where these kinds of questions are going to need to be answered.”

Met Council Director of Government Affairs Judd Schetnan said there are already a number of oversight authorities in place. Otto’s office is already auditing the regional agency, Schetnan said, along with the Legislative Commission on Metropolitan Government and in-house audits.

Otto, whose office is tasked with digging into financial records throughout the state, disagrees with requiring the legislative auditor to do what she sees as her job.

“For efficiency’s sake and for taxpayer dollars, we already audit these entities … if anyone wants this information, it’s already there,” Otto said.

Rep. Sheldon Johnson (DFL-St. Paul) called it a “duplication” of the state auditor’s job and Rep. Mary Kunesh-Podein (DFL-New Brighton) agreed.

“I don’t quite understand why we have to duplicate that,” Kunesh-Podein said.

Legislative Auditor Jim Nobles told lawmakers he doesn’t want to duplicate Otto’s efforts, but stopped short of opposing the bill.

“I think it will be on a special review basis and we have a responsibility to prioritize our work all the time,” Nobles said. “We could apply this new responsibility to the same that we do for all the other responsibilities. We would use our strategy and our prioritization process to be responsive to legislative concerns.”