Taxpayer group says waste costs state billions

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A taxpayer activist group charged Monday that waste, fraud and mismanagement in state government has cost Californians $18.9 billion during the last decade.

Cost increases on bridge retrofits, junkets by bureaucrats and nearly $1 billion in federal fines for failing to track child support payments were among the problems cited by the California Taxpayers’ Assn. in a report that cited government audits, court records and media reports.

“The state needs to get serious about protecting tax dollars from waste and misuse,” said Teresa Casazza, president of the group. “Every penny of waste that is stopped is like a penny of new revenue that can help educate students, provide healthcare to the poor and keep convicted felons behind bars.”

The report said the largest category of questionable spending is in transportation, citing a 2004 state audit that found a program to make toll bridges safe for earthquakes had increased in cost by $3.2 billion in the previous three years. The audit said the increases included $930 million for added expenses on the troubled San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

-- Patrick McGreevy