OPEGA Report
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The OPEGA review, which covered the five-year period from 2005-2009, audited the MTA on issues ranging from debt level, operating surplus and construction services procurement, to accounting principles, agency oversight and governance. OPEGA acknowledged a number of the MTA’s strengths while also noting a few areas for improvement, particularly with regard to professional service contracts, budgeting, and travel and subsistence expenditures, all of which the MTA has taken steps to address and will continue to focus on in the months ahead. Among the changes the MTA has begun working on are increasing the size of its in-house engineering staff to assume more construction inspection and project oversight responsibilities, thus being less reliant on outside consultants; developing new contract management software and procedures; and implementing more stringent travel, meal and general purchasing policies. A detailed action plan specifically addressing OPEGA’s recommendations—and endorsed by both OPEGA and the MTA—was included in the MTA’s response portion of the report. OPEGA downloads The full report can be found on the OPEGA website. |
Following 8 months of rigorous, broad-ranging review, the Maine Legislature’s Office of Program Evaluation & Government Accountability (OPEGA) released a report examining Maine Turnpike Authority (MTA) operations, policies and procedures.