December 14, 2015
The Auditor’s Office has released an audit of the State’s “sole-source” contracting practices, and the findings are not good. Here’s how the Associated Press is reporting the audit:
“Vermont state Auditor Doug Hoffer says his office has found widespread abuse in the state’s contracting practices, with state agencies failing to use competitive bidding when they should.”
This is a very important finding, as VSEA members have been asking lawmakers for years to examine the State’s contracting with private vendors. Members were seeing more and more private vendors doing work once done by state employees and they wanted to know if the savings were really there.
Not bidding the contracts is especially offensive when you consider the millions potentially lost that could have protected a key service or position.