Payments To Firm Deemed Improper / Auditor Criticizes Over $2 Million In Consultant Fees
Source: By Dan Keating, Washington Post (DC), Thursday, May 22, 2008
A consultant for the District Office of Tax and Revenue has been paid more than $2 million in improper charges, including airfare to Puerto Rico, cable television bills, $3,000 apartment rentals and management retreats, Auditor Deborah K. Nichols said yesterday.
The auditor also said that hourly labor rates were too high, annual increases were too large, millions of dollars worth of additional work was tacked on and managers under Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi failed to properly oversee consultant Accenture's work for the tax office.
Accenture has been paid about $135 million since 1998 to create the Integrated Tax System and run the computers, including ongoing fees of $5 million per year.