Garamendi Urges More Auditors in Controller’s Office

Citing overpayment to contractors who overbilled the state for toxic cleanups, state Sen. John Garamendi of Walnut Grove Wednesday proposed adding 30 more auditors to the state controller’s office to verify all claims.

Garamendi, a Democratic candidate for controller, said that if $684,000 were added to the controller’s budget in the 1986-87 fiscal year, the additional audits probably would save the state millions of dollars in questionable claims.

Garamendi held a press conference just outside the McColl dump in Fullerton, where, according to an auditor general’s report in March, at least $1.4 million of the $7.4 million the state has paid contractors so far has been for questionable or unreasonable costs.

Garamendi said he will present his proposal for added controller’s staff to the Senate Budget Committee next week.

The controller has the statutory authority to perform “preclaim audits” but lacks the staff to investigate more than a sample of the 298,000 claim schedules paid during the previous fiscal year, Garamendi said. In the 1984-85 period, the preclaim audit unit sampled and disallowed about $10.8 million in claims, he said. During that year, the state paid out a total of $83.2 million in claims.

The controller has no authority to veto a contract, but the controller can refuse to pay it, Garamendi added.