Tagged: investigations

A new audit says the state Department of Environmental Quality didn't have proper controls over a state program meant to keep tires from being dumped illegally, allowing overpayments.

The report from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's Office says DEQ allows waste tire processors to weigh their own tire shipments, rather than confirming the weight through a third party. Since the payments are based on weight, the audit says the lack of confirmation gives processors an ability to overstate what they've done.

It seemed like a simple enough question: How much of a $25 million annual federal allocation did Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s administration spend last year to help struggling residents and address blight?

The precise figure is hard to decipher, city officials said. On the one hand, the city spent more than $25 million because of money rolled over from previous years. But it didn’t spend all of its 2011 money, citing project delays.

As they do annually, the feds are letting the money roll into this year, so the city hasn’t lost any funding.

As expected, a one-time city contractor facing federal charges in a Nagin-era kickback scheme is cooperating with investigators and is set to plead guilty next week, according to his attorney and U.S. Attorney Jim Letten’s office.

Feel like the city’s got a boot on your neck? How about on your tire?

There’s a reason why. In the past year, New Orleans parking officials have become much more aggressive in the use of devices that immobilize cars with outstanding parking tickets.

“[W]e used to boot vehicles if they had more than three violations,” said city Department of Public Works parking administrator Zepporiah Edmonds, in testimony Wednesday afternoon before the City Council’s Budget-Audit Board of Review.