The Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) this morning released a new program evaluation report titled Southwest Light Rail Transit Construction: Metropolitan Council Oversight of Contractors. The report found that the Met Council purposefully inflated cost estimates that drove up the cost of the project, failed to properly hold contractors accountable for cost changes, and lacked proper documentation. 

Senator Mark Koran, Vice Chair of the Legislative Audit Commission, released the following statement:  

“The SWLRT is a complicated project that needs stringent oversight and accountability. The Met Council has utterly failed to protect taxpayers’ dollars. They decided to go into cost negotiations with a higher-than-necessary cost estimate, which drove up the costs over time, and they willfully threw taxpayers’ dollars down a deepening hole of failure. There is a process to prevent cost overruns and delays, and the Met Council should have taken immediate action to address the issue.  

“However, this OLA review of the SWLRT is looking in the rear-view mirror. Democrats decided to remove the state ban on funding SWLRT, and, despite all these issues that we already knew about, gave the Met Council money and oversight of yet another train line this session. Minnesotans deserve better and should demand wholesale change from the Met Council. The Council was less than cooperative with the OLA and after this report, we can see why. Rather than wait for some sense of contrition from the current Met Council, Governor Walz can decide to instill leadership and accountability in this body. As the 2023 appointment process is currently happening, Walz can put real leaders who value accountability and transparency on the Met Council. Or he can continue down the same failed path. It’s up to him. “