PennDOT audit will look at use of new transportation funding, personal data
State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale and state Rep. Carol Hill-Evans discuss the findings of an audit by DePasquale’s office of the School District of the City of York. (Photo: Gary Haber, York Daily Record)
(Harrisburg) — The commonwealth’s fiscal watchdog is launching an audit of a state agency he says touches the life of nearly every Pennsylvanian: PennDOT.
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale just won reelection in November. Now with this audit, he can fulfill his campaign promise of investigating whether transportation funding made possible by Act 89 of 2013 is being use appropriately.
DePasquale says this audit did not come about because of complaints, but he also wouldn’t call it routine.
“Now, I think, is the right time to weigh in to make sure that the act and the gas taxes, et cetera; making sure that’s going where it’s supposed to go,” DePasquale said.
PennDOT’s last review by the Auditor General’s office was released in January 2013, before DePasquale first took office.
This time around, auditors will look into how PennDOT awards contracts and selects projects.
They will also examine how the agency manages personal information it collects.
DePasquale says the first part of that will be looking at the policy of whether or not to sell personal information to private companies.
“The second part is whether people can hack into the system, and certainly we’re going to do everything we can to ask the tough question there to make sure that they’re at least protecting against that,” DePasquale said.
The audit is expected to be complete in about nine months.
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