Auditor Questions Governor's Contracts

Auditor General Jack Wagner says the Rendell Administration mishandled a series of no-bid contracts it awarded to a technology consulting firm from 2004 to 2007. Wagner says the main problem is the fact that Deloitte Consulting was the only bidder on more than half of the 59 contracts it was awarded during the four-year span. He says on top of that, the state’s bill for its services swelled well beyond the initial contract totals, “You have 382 million in initial contracts, and that number ends up being 592 million, or increases by 55 percent. There’s something wrong in the process.” Wagner also says his department’s audit discovered Deloitte was the beneficiary of job creation tax breaks for three consecutive years, even though Pennsylvania law bars companies from receiving the tax credits more than one year in a row. Governor Rendell says there’s nothing wrong with no-bid contracts in certain circumstances. He says Deloitte was doing a good job, so his administration rewarded the company by handing it more state work. The company’s political action committee and various employees donated 19,000 to the governor during his two statewide campaigns. A Deloitte statement says the company adhered to the law, and is proud of the work it’s carried out for the commonwealth.