State park money not spent properly, audit says

DENVER - An audit says the Colorado State Parks Division failed to properly account for millions of dollars and misspent tens of thousands more, including hiring an $800-an-hour comedian and overpaying for food.

At Mueller State Park in Teller County, parks employees and their friends were given free stays in cabins and were allowed to reserve them before the public had the chance, booking them up on weekends and holidays, the audit found.

The three fully furnished cabins, which are booked nearly 100 percent of the time, rent for $120 to $240 a night. Auditors said the agency was losing money and "violating the public trust by providing preferential access to the cabins for Division employees."

At the recently-created Cheyenne Mountain State Park south of Colorado Springs, auditors said, there was a lack of details in grant applications and little documentation to indicate why the park's estimated price tag grew from $8.6 million in 2002 to $20 million in 2004 to $40 million in 2007. After plans for an event center and cabins were dropped, the price tag dropped to $27.1 million, the audit states.

The audit, released Monday, said $9.4 million hadn't been properly accounted for statewide. Officials found that most was spent on land purchases but that $600,000 remains unaccounted for.

Auditors questioned more than $2 million in payments.

They said the division paid $43,000 for food and $6,100 for entertainment, including the comedian, during a three-day training session.

Auditors said the food cost about double the state's standard allowance.

The audit found that two employees were allowed to commute in state vehicles for more than 3½ years at a cost to the state of about $40,000, but the benefit wasn't reported as taxable income on their W-2 forms.

"This is the most egregious waste of money and resources I've seen in my four years on the audit committee," said Sen. David Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs.

Mike King, deputy director of the Department of Natural Resources, which oversees the parks division, says the department takes the findings "extremely seriously."

"What needs to be clear is that things approved in the past will no longer be acceptable," King said.

The audit found the division lacks adequate safeguards on spending funds from Great Outdoors Colorado - the trust that distributes some state lottery proceeds.

GOCO has given the division $67 million since 2003 for parks' services and improvements.

Records show that GOCO paid the division $17.8 million in 2003, but division receipts accounted for only $7.1 million.