Off-Highway Vehicle Money Poorly Spent Says Auditor

Sacramento, CA — A critical state audit says the California Department of Parks and Recreation spent off-highway vehicle money on questionable purchases that included chartering private aircraft.

The department repeatedly violated contract rules, including 80 instances in which costs were improperly split to avoid competitive bidding and regulatory review. The department also doesn´t sufficiently track grants.

The department says most of the problems came under a previous administration and officials are now promising to make sure it doesn´t happen again.

Such contracts now will go through multiple layers of review. The off-highway vehicle division has a budget this year of more than $62 million.