SANDAG audit reveals cost overruns, missing records, and more
Independent auditor finds widespread issues in SR-125 tolling contracts, including poor documentation and lack of competitive integrity; board, management commit to recommendations
COUNTY — Another audit from the San Diego Association of Governments’ Independent Performance Auditor disclosed more shortcomings when it came to the problematic contracts with HNTB regarding the State Route 125 tolling operations.
The audit by Independent Performance Auditor Courtney Ruby covered July 1, 2019, through June 20, 2024, after the SANDAG Board of Directors and Audit Committee voiced concerns following the March 2024 investigation. The scope of the audit centered on HNTB and $135 million in awarded on-call contracts since 2008, with $43.5 million audited during the specific timeframe.
The 75-page report found missing documentation, a lack of transparency, poor justification, independent cost estimate (ICE) deficiencies, premature deliverables, project management failures, back-office system contract issues and questionable records management.
SANDAG management and the board have previously said they will implement all recommendations and move the agency into a new era of transparency and accountability. The SANDAG Board of Directors will discuss the audit report during today’s board meeting.
“As stated in OIPA’s last audit report, and it’s worth repeating, SANDAG appears to be turning a page under the current CEO (Mario Orso), who is committed to accountability, transparency, and operational integrity,” Ruby wrote. “It is my hope that Management (sic) implements the audit recommendations with a sense of urgency to ensure SANDAG’s practices protect the agency and the mission-critical work it does for the region.”
Of the $43.5 million, $40 million was for five large multi-phased projects with task orders and amendments issued under on-call contracts awarded to HNTB, according to the report. The remaining $3.5 million was for a non-compete contract related to the SR 125 tolling back-office system, which HNTB and ETAN Technologies were hired to oversee.
However, Ruby and the Office of the Independent Performance Auditor, took issue with two audit scope limitations, limiting the OIPA’s ability to fully assess the agency’s procurement practices.
“First, there were missing or incomplete on-call master contract solicitations for two of the five on-call master solicitations we reviewed,” she wrote. “SANDAG was able to locate the documentation seven months later at the conclusion of the audit. Second, none of the task order solicitations for the audit’s sampled projects were found, nor could we locate documentation related to planning of these task orders’ scope, deliverables, phases, and schedule.”
