Auditors: State Has Not Claimed $100 Million Because Of Computer

HARTFORD (AP) — A new auditors’ report says state government has failed to claim $100 million in federal reimbursements since November 2003 because of problems with a new computer system.

State Auditors Robert G. Jaekle and Kevin P. Johnston also said state Comptroller Nancy Wyman gave up a significant amount of control over state financial transactions because of the computer troubles, the Journal Inquirer of Manchester reported. The auditors’ report was released last week.

Wyman said in a written statement that she never relinquished authority and maintains full oversight of financial transactions. She also expressed confidence in the new $130 million Core-CT computer system, saying all similarly large new systems have initial glitches.

In November 2003, the state Department of Transportation discovered that it could not apply for federal reimbursement for highway and road projects because the new computer network could not process data sufficiently. At that time, the $1 million to $2 million in weekly federal reimbursement requests started piling up.

Stephen E. Korta II, who has served as DOT commissioner since April 2004, said officials talked with a software firm tied to the Core-CT project about solving the problem, but it did not come up with a product that could meet the state’s needs.

The DOT received additional money from Gov M. Jodi Rell’s administration last fall to develop an emergency translation program. Korta said the agency can now begin submitting the reimbursement applications.

The state has not lost its eligibility for the federal aid. But Robert L. Genuario, Rell’s budget director, said the state cannot afford to have $100 million of its money sitting unused in the federal budget.

“We need to get that money and get it into the state coffers as soon as possible,” Genuario said last Friday.

Korta said he hopes all the backlogged claims can be submitted by May.

Jaekle and Johnston also said in their report that the computer problems made the state nine months late in filing a required state audit of federal assistance. They said that left Connecticut out of compliance with federal disclosure rules and threatened the state’s ability to borrow money at low interest rates.

The Core-CT computer system was originally supposed to cost $60 million to $70 million, but it was expanded in 2000 so that all state financial data processing could be improved. The state has now spent more than $130 million on the system.

One of the first problems that happened after the system was launched in 2003 was that several hundred state employee paychecks were issued with an incorrect balance of $0. In February 2004, many state employees complained about faulty W-2 tax forms.