Audit - State spent $1.2 million for unneeded freebies

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State agencies spent up to $1.2 million on questionable promotional items, including thousands of bumper stickers, chip clips and rub-on tattoos, during the past two years, according to an audit released Friday by State Auditor Claire McCaskill.

The audit questioned the need for the trinkets, which were used for the two years ending June 30, 2003, at recruitment fairs, trade shows and other events to raise the profile of a state agency or program.

"It seems to me with the kind of cutbacks we've had in state agencies, we really need to take a hard look into doing this kind of thing at all," McCaskill said.

Total spending on promotional items over the two-year period was $3.2 million; of that, McCaskill's audit says between $268,000 and $1.2 million was unnecessary.

Annual state spending on promotional items has decreased from $3 million in 2000 to $1.4 million last year, the audit said.

McCaskill is running against Gov. Bob Holden in the Aug. 3 Democratic primary and has touted previous audit findings of government spending as part of her campaign. In response to the audit, Holden spokeswoman Mary Still said the governor encourages department directors to be mindful stewards of public money.

The audit calls some of the promotional items "extravagant," including two $195 watches purchased by the Department of Conservation to be used as recognition awards, five handmade pieces of pottery at a cost of $360 that the Department of Economic Development gave away and seven $44 polo shirts the Department of Transportation gave to its employees for work on special projects.

The audit also found the Lottery Commission spent $16,000 on briefcases, portfolios, rain bonnets and shoehorns for attendees at conferences to promote the lottery. Lottery officials also paid $1,300 to sponsor a golf hole at the Petroleum Marketers Association's annual golf event, which the audit called "a private event with very little exposure for the lottery."

The various agencies' written responses to the audit generally defended the purchases as well worth the cost.

The Department of Conservation responded to the $195 watches given to the Hunter Education Instructor of the Year by saying the "cost is minor in comparison to the value of the hours donated by all volunteer instructors who provide over 12,500 hours of hunter education each year."

Lottery officials defended the purchases of the rain bonnets and shoehorns by saying the purchases were in-kind donations used in "support of community events which are an integral part of the program necessary to achieve the legislative mandated goals. These items all carry the Lottery imprint and logo which promotes the Lottery in many communities in the state."