MODOT GETS MORE OVERSIGHT ON FINANCES

The Missouri Department of Transportation will receive more oversight under a new piece of legislation signed by Gov. Mel Carnahan this week. The question is: Would such additional scrutiny have prevented the gross miscalculation of the 15-year plan costs?

Probably not.

There is no fail-safe mechanism to make sure mistakes don't happen, especially in the realm of human error. But this push for additional accountability should come as no surprise to highway officials.

Many taxpayers were dismayed by revelations that the 1992 highway building program was going to be about $14 billion in the hole over the 15-year timetable. That's billion, not million, folks.

Another notch down the credibility ladder came at audit time. Missouri State Auditor Margaret Kelly this week said the department paid more than any other state agency to move transferring workers. MoDOT spent a whopping $915,000 for worker relocation in 1997.

The moving expenses exceeded annual salaries by 10 to 50 percent in several cases. This seems an obvious abuse of taxpayers dollars. But the state's system of checks and balances detected the problem. State agencies are audited on a regular basis.

These recent problems have chipped away at highway department trust, built by such success stories as Proposition A that promised and delivered on better roads throughout the state.

The new law requires the department submit a yearly comprehensive financial report to the governor and lawmakers. It also creates a joint legislative committee to examine the report.

It also gives the Highway and Transportation Commission the authority to appoint a chief executive officer to oversee the day-to-day operations and finances, while retaining the chief engineer's control over construction and other operations.

An effort should be made to ensure that increased involvement of the Legislature won't politicize the highway process. The bipartisan commission has done a good job of setting priorities for projects based on need, not politics. Urban areas are crying for big dollars for such mass transit projects as Metrolink in St. Louis. State government must ensure that both rural and urban needs are met fairly.

The transportation department has a big job. It oversees the state's highways, aviation, waterways, transit and railroads. This includes responsibility for 32,000 miles of state highways. It can be hoped the new law will add legitimate oversight and not just another layer of bureaucracy or political meddling.