Before Gov. Bill Owens leaves office in six months, we hope he’ll resolve two troublesome matters identified this week in separate reports from the state auditor. One involves funding of Colorado’s new emergency operations center and the other spotlights the state’s failure to collect royalties from some oil and gas producers.
A state audit last October first disclosed that officials misused $1.5 million in federal homeland security funding by funneling it through South Metro Fire Rescue District toward the purchase of space in South Metro’s administrative building in Centennial.
Federal officials agreed, saying the money should have gone to local governments for emergency preparedness. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security demanded that Colorado repay the $1.5 million. Last month, after Washington threatened to withhold $21 million in future grants, the state repaid the money, using interest from undistributed 2003 economic development funds. In a follow-up Monday to her October report, state auditor Sally Symanski noted that state officials will pay $1.1 million in rent – $28,600 per month – until the amount is paid off for the same office space covered by the disputed $1.5 million payment. Her memo noted that the state still had not taken steps to obtain title to the building space and that if the center were damaged or destroyed, the state “would have no legal recourse to recoup its $1.5 million prepayment or its monthly rent payments. A clear ownership title to the property would better protect the nearly $5.9 million invested in the (center) to date,” the memo said.
Barbara Kirkmeyer, acting chief of the state office that oversees homeland security grants, continues to dispute the auditors’ findings. She said the department is not trying to buy the office space but rather obtained a “perpetual lease” on the space. It’s essential that the governor clear the debris and resolve this expensive matter.
As to severance taxes, the state’s audit concluded that 30 percent of the 27 oil and gas producers with Colorado well permits didn’t file tax returns. The audit said the revenue department could collect millions more in taxes by doing a better job of monitoring tax returns and making certain oil and gas meters are reporting production accurately.
Given the tight state budget, we hope Owens will tackle this problem as soon as possible.
