A bill awaiting committee action in the Iowa House would set up a centralized school bus purchasing system for Iowa school districts. Representative Curtis Hanson, a Democrat from Fairfield, is the bill’s sponsor. “This vision is for schools of Iowa to help taxpayers and help schools reduce the cost of their buses. Schools in the past have been purchasing buses one or two or three at a time,” Hanson says. “If we can consolidate that bidding process and bid on 300 or 400 — or maybe 500 or 600 at a time, then we can get a substantial cost reduction.”

Hanson says he got the idea from other states, such as Minnesota, where it has been very successful, and saves both the taxpayers and schools money. The average cost for a standard yellow school bus is 70-thousand dollars. Hanson estimates buying buses in bulk would save at least 500-dollars per bus. Multiply that by 400 buses and that’s 200-thousand dollars. Buses must meet minimum safety standards, but districts do have many options to sort through when buying a bus. Hanson’s bill calls for the centralized purchasing of school buses to be handled by staff in the Iowa Department of Education as well as staff in the Iowa Department of Administrative Services who handle other state purchasing contracts.

“There’s about 300-400 buses in the state of Iowa purchases each year,” Hanson says. “They have a normal recycling plan that every so many thousand miles or every so many years they will renew their bus fleet and so that’s a planned purchase that they need to keep up on and this will help administratively, too, because the changes in requirements and so forth will be centrally located.”

School districts would not be required to join the bus purchasing coop if Hanson’s bill becomes law. The decision to turn over school bus purchasing to state administrators would be voluntary. Hanson’s bill cleared a subcommittee this week and awaits action in the full House Education Committee.

(Radio Iowa)

Southwest Iowa Transit Agency Director Steve Andersen reacted today (Friday), to a report from Auditor of State David Vaudt, with regard to a special investigation of the Southwest Iowa Transit Agency (SWITA), based in Atlantic. The special investigation was requested by the Office of Public Transit within the Department of Transportation (DOT), as a result of concerns regarding Andersen’s compliance with reporting requirements.

Steve Andersen – SWITA Transportation Director (Photo from swipco.org)

Andersen told KJAN News SWITA welcomes Vaudt’s findings and have already implemented methods to correct reporting procedures to the DOT. He says many of the changes were made in advance of the report, which he received Thursday morning. Andersen says their past reports are being amended to accurately reflect the number of charter rides, in particular, those offered in Fiscal Year 2012.

The report covers the period of July 1st, 2011 through June 30th, 2012. Vaudt reported the special investigation identified 8,901 charter riders which were improperly included as public riders on the quarterly charter reports submitted to DOT by SWITA, which does not comply with the Code of Federal Regulations. Because charter services were not properly reported to DOT in fiscal year 2012, SWITA could potentially receive funding in fiscal year 2014 which the agency is not entitled to if the charter riders are not adjusted.  Andersen says the goal of the audit was to provide corrective action, and that goal is being accomplished through the efforts of SWITA and the Office of Public Transit.

The audit report also identified $300 of improper disbursements for the payment of golf registration fees for employees of the Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO). Andersen says the funds were for two drivers and two office personnel, including himself, to participate in a fundraiser for the Cass County Memorial Hospital Foundation. He says their participation, which was approved by the previous SWITA executive director, was intended to serve as a “Thank you” to the hospital for their business. Andersen says SWITA’s “…Amended internal policy no longer allows for such expenditures, and it will no longer be an issue.”

The report includes recommendations to strengthen the DOT’s internal controls and overall operations, and it makes recommendations to strengthen SWITA’s internal controls and overall operations. Andersen said he takes full responsibility for any discrepancies in the report, and that he will work to ensure those errors don’t happen again.

Copies of the report have been filed with the Iowa Department of Transportation for consultation with the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration. A copy of the report is available for review in the Office of Auditor of State and on the Auditor of State’s web site at http://auditor.iowa.gov/specials/1360-6450-B0P1.pdf.

The Harlan Municipal Utilities Board of Directors, Thursday, approved their Fiscal Year 2013-2014 budget. CEO Darrell Wenzel said during the meeting total operating revenues dropped 5% while water increased 8 percent and could be more if the drought continues. HMU will realize a 3% increase in revenue, with operating expenses were down 3%.

In other news the Board of Trustees discussed, in length, recent talks between HMU and the City regarding the Former HMU building. In the meeting, it was noted the City is worried about spending money on remodeling the front offices of the former HMU building and then the Utility company coming back to the city asking for the use of the building.

An agreement is being drawn up by the city and HMU but nothing has been set in concrete. HMU is currently using the former building for head-in equipment. The Board did not take any action on the matter and instead advised CEO Wenzel to continue talking with Harlan City Administrator Terry Cox on an agreement.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

Auditor of State David A. Vaudt today (Friday) released a report on a special investigation of the Southwest Iowa Transit Agency (SWITA), based in Atlantic. The report covers the period of July 1st, 2011 through June 30th, 2012. The special investigation was requested by the Office of Public Transit within the Department of Transportation (DOT) as a result of concerns regarding compliance with reporting requirements by SWITA Transit Director Steve Andersen.

Vaudt reported the special investigation identified 8,901 charter riders which were improperly included as public riders on the quarterly charter reports submitted to DOT by SWITA, which does not comply with the Code of Federal Regulations. Because charter services were not properly reported to DOT in fiscal year 2012, SWITA could potentially receive funding in fiscal year 2014 which the agency is not entitled to if the charter riders are not adjusted.

In addition, Vaudt identified $300.00 of improper disbursements for the payment of golf registration fees for employees of the Southwest Iowa Planning Council SWIPCO. The report includes recommendations to strengthen DOT’s internal controls and
overall operations, such as reviewing quarterly reports submitted in a timely manner and conducting follow-up on any variances. In addition, the report includes recommendations to strengthen SWITA’s internal controls and overall operations, such as obtaining independent approval of quarterly reports submitted to DOT, including the driver’s name and the reason for use of the vehicle on the mileage logs and providing supporting documentation for meetings and/or training attended which are included on employee timesheets.

Copies of the report have been filed with the Iowa Department of Transportation for consultation with the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration. A copy of the report is available for review in the Office of Auditor of State and on the Auditor of State’s web site at http://auditor.iowa.gov/specials/1360-6450-B0P1.pdf.