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Herald Editorial - Inspection failure We
thought Auditor Joseph DeNucci’s complaint last week about backlogged
elevator inspections sounded familiar so into the way-back machine we
went. Old friend Joe has, in fact, raised the same red flag in the past
- most recently in a 2004 audit - and yet precious little has changed. Then
as now, the state Department of Public Safety has blamed a lack of
resources and a lack of manpower for its failure to keep up with
thousands of elevator inspections. But
a 300 percent increase in the inspection fee, from $100 to $400 imposed
in 2003, has brought in millions more in revenue each year - and done
nothing to solve the problem. And
a lack of resources doesn’t adequately explain DPS’ failure to
impose proper internal controls that would keep the state ahead of the
expiration curve - controls that were missing in 2004, too. During
the period of the current audit, 2008-2009, 30 percent of elevator
inspection certificates on file with DPS - 11,419 of 37,494 elevators -
were expired, for periods ranging from under a year to more than four. That
means, of course, a threat to life and limb. It
also means a loss of revenue - an estimated $6.5 million in uncollected
fees for the current backlogged inspections. And
if the new revenue from the jacked-up fees has not been used to maintain
an adequate inspection staff - nearly $12 million was collected in
fiscal 2008, compared to just over $2 million in fiscal 2002 - then
where is it going? Into the general fund? DPS
says it has purchased a new software system that will usher in a new era
of control and oversight of elevator inspections. DeNucci is retiring,
but his successor darn well ought to check that again in a few years. This
may not have been a problem of the Patrick administration’s creation
but the governor was given the tools and the information to correct it
and he hasn’t. Everything old really is new again |
| Mailing Address:oseph DeNucci
P.O. Box 600252 Newton MA 02460 Office Location: 259 Walnut St Newton, MA 02460 Phone: 617.630.0600 Fax: 617.630.0625 E-Mail: HDQ@JoeDeNucci.com |
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