Sincerely,
George Lightbourn
Secretary
Referred to committee on State Affairs.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
Madison
May 20, 2002
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
This report is transmitted as required by s.
20.002(11)(f), Wisconsin Statutes (for distribution to the appropriate standing committees under s.
13.172(3), Wisconsin Statutes), and confirms that the Department of Administration has found it necessary to exercise the "temporary reallocation of balances" authority provided by this section in order to meet payment responsibilities and cover resulting negative balances during the month of April 2002.
On April 1, 2002 the General Fund balance was -$231.1 million. This shortfall continued until April 19, 2002 when the balance reached a positive $78.0 million. During this period, the General Fund balance reached a low of -$359.8 million on April 10, 2002. The shortfall was due to the difference in the timing of revenues and expenditures, in combination with the overall budget shortfall.
On April 1, 2002 the Wisconsin Health Education Loan Repayment Fund balance was -$3 thousand. This shortfall continued until April 12, 2002 when the balance reached a positive $5 thousand. The shortfall was due to the difference in the timing of revenues and expenditures.
The General Fund and the Wisconsin Health Education Loan Repayment Fund shortfalls were not in excess of the statutory interfund borrowing limitation and did not exceed the balances of the Funds available for interfund borrowing.
The distribution of interest earnings to investment pool participants is based on the average daily balance in the pool and each fund's share. Therefore, the monthly calculation by the State Controller's Office will automatically reflect the use of these temporary reallocations of balance authority.
Sincerely,
George Lightbourn
Secretary
Referred to committee on Ways and Means.
__________________
Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
May 22, 2002
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
We have been monitoring the construction costs of Miller Park, the stadium for the Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club, at the request of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. The Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District has been responsible for overseeing the design and construction of the stadium and is currently overseeing its operations. Construction was originally anticipated to be completed by March 1, 2000, but a crane accident in July 1999 that killed three workers and caused extensive damage resulted in a one-year delay in the stadium's opening.
Through December 2001, the District spent $413.9 million on project construction, or $13.4 million more than budgeted. In addition, the District spent $14.2 million in 2001 for post-construction operations and maintenance, and it budgeted $11.1 million for these costs in 2002.
A 30-year lease agreement between the District and the Brewers provides for the creation of a fund to pay for repairs and improvements to the stadium. The lease also requires the District to contribute $3.85 million annually to support stadium maintenance. However, we note that public funds paid to help the Brewers support stadium maintenance costs will instead be paid to the team's lenders. We suggest the District work with the Brewers to ensure that needed repairs and maintenance projects are completed and that the public's investment in the project - for which we now estimate costs will total $1.0 billion through 2030 - is adequately protected.
The District met the majority of its statutory goals for the participation of minorities and women in the stadium construction work. However, we identified several management issues regarding the District's operations, including the use of a private skybox in the stadium, its contract with a private consulting firm that does not tie payments for stadium management services to the amount of work actually completed, and the adequacy of documentation for some expenditures. We suggest improvements be made in all of these areas.
I stand behind the accuracy of the information included in this report and the professionalism of my staff in completing this review. The District's response is Appendix 2.
Respectfully submitted,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
