ANNAPOLIS — The Board of Public Works has criticized Maryland Public Television officials for what it said appeared to be a deliberate attempt to evade controls over state contracts on two projects carried out between 2000 and 2002.
Comptroller William Donald Schaefer suggested this week that the state attorney general and the appropriate state’s attorney be asked to look into violations of law involved in the handling of the contracts.
According to a report from the Department of General Services, public television officials broke the two projects down into a series of small contracts so they would not have to get approval from the Board of Public Works to spend the money.
The problem was uncovered in a report released in December by legislative auditors.
Under state procurement laws, state agencies must go through the Department of General Services bidding process and get approval from the Board of Public Works for any contracts worth more than $25,000.
The general services report submitted to the board said a $394,373 project for converting the state’s public television to a digital signal was broken down into 18 contracts with two companies that in some cases came in just a few dollars under the $25,000 threshold. A second project worth $74,950 was separated into three contracts.
“This is very troubling,” said Boyd Rutherford, secretary of General Services. “This appears egregious and an abuse of the system, something that is intolerable for state government.”
The report said senior managers at MPT were aware of the procedures that were supposed to be followed and appeared to have intentionally avoided following those procedures.
Responding to Mr. Schaefer’s comments, Mr. Rutherford said the legal counsel for his department had been notified of the way the contracts were handled.
MPT officials said when the legislative auditor’s report was issued in December that there was no financial loss to the state as a result of the way the contracts were handled.
Larry D. Unger, MPT’s executive vice president, acknowledged in an interview with the Baltimore Sun that the circumvention of procurement regulations was inappropriate. He said MPT is establishing more stringent internal safeguards and will adhere more strictly to state policies.
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican, and Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp, a Democrat, joined Mr. Schaefer in criticizing MPT
“This raises serious questions about how MPT was managed,” Mrs. Kopp said.
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