SOME STATE LAWMAKERS WANT MODOT TO SELL TWO AIRPLANES

The Missouri Department of Transportation should clip its wings, say some GOP lawmakers who want the agency to sell two of its three airplanes.

State Rep. Charles Shields, R-St. Joseph, made the request in a letter Wednesday to Henry Hungerbeeler, MoDOT's director.

Shields and Rep. David Schwab, R-Jackson, serve on the House Budget Committee. They and other members of the committee have argued that state government has engaged in high-flying spending and misused taxpayers' dollars.

MoDOT, in particular, has been singled out for criticism.

"My review of aircraft operations within MoDOT indicates the department's two twin-engine aircraft are apparently being used primarily for the convenience of MoDOT commissioners and officials and without regard to the costs to Missouri taxpayers," Shields said in his letter.

Shields and Schwab said the state's air fleet should be administered by a single agency such as the Office of Administration. Such a move would make more efficient use of the planes and keep a handle on costs, they said.

The state has 28 airplanes and helicopters. Eighteen of the aircraft are operated by the Missouri Highway Patrol. The others are operated by MoDOT, the Office of Administration and the Conservation Department.

Schwab said Thursday that the state doesn't need such a large fleet of planes.

MoDOT alone spent $206,854 in 1998 to operate its three planes. In 1997, it spent $314,823.

"I think one plane should be all they need to do state business," said Schwab.

MoDOT's King Air plane is expensive to operate. It costs $482 an hour to operate the six- to eight-passenger plane.

Schwab said MoDOT officials said the plane was used to take aerial photographs of highway corridors. But when House Budget Committee members checked the logs, they found that the airplane had been used for aerial photography only 16 times in nearly a year and a half.

MoDOT's King Air and Navajo Chieftain airplane were regularly used to shuttle then department director Joe Mickes from Jefferson City to St. Louis or Kansas City to catch a commercial flight. Lawmakers said similar shuttle trips were provided to other MoDOT officials. In all, there were 19 such flights totaling over $8,000, records showed.

The state highway commissioners also were frequent flyers.

In the 12-month period ending in March, MoDOT spent over $69,000 on 92 flights to shuttle commissioners back and forth to meetings. Frequently, a single flight might carry only one commissioner, Schwab said.

MoDOT also flew over 200 flights in the past year to transport various employees to meetings, award ceremonies, highway openings and ribbon-cutting ceremonies, retirement functions and funerals, Schwab said.

The Jackson lawmaker said there's no reason for the state to provide free air service to the highway commissioners.

State Rep. Patrick Naeger, R-Perryville, who is secretary of the GOP House Caucus, said steps need to be taken to keep tighter controls on the state's air fleet.

Naeger said it is ironic that highway commissioners would fly over rather than drive on the state's roads.

Naeger said he hopes Hungerbeeler, MoDOT's new director, will address the problem.

"This is a perfect opportunity for him to lay a new set of ground rules," said Naeger.

Under the Missouri Constitution the Legislature has little control over MoDOT's budget.

Naeger said that is all the more reason to consolidate the state's air fleet under a single agency such as the Office of Administration, where lawmakers have greater control over the budget.

Schwab said the Budget Committee already has taken steps to rein in the state's aviation spending. Lawmakers have cut $19,000 from the mental health department's budget for commissioner travel and $30,000 from the attorney general's budget because of excessive use of aircraft.