Hatchett Says Commonwealth Spends $147 Million on Contract Labor See the report for Description of Individual Contracts See the report for Description of Master Agreement Contracts See the report for Description of Non-Individual Contracts See the report for Summary of CHS See the report for Summary of State Contracts-2003 |
Edward B. Hatchett, Jr. |
|
(Frankfort - May 6, 2003)
State government spends $147 million on contract labor for at least 2,758 individuals to perform services, according to a compilation of state contracts prepared by State Auditor Ed Hatchett's office. The compilation was prepared and submitted to House Speaker Jody Richards and Senate President David Williams.
The Cabinet for Health Services alone spends $56 million on contract labor. The compilation included a separate breakdown of the state contracts of the Departments in the Health Services Cabinet. It appears the Commonwealth pays a premium for the contract employees. In the Governor's Office for Technology there are 165 individual contracts worth $16.7 million, or more than $100 thousand per employee. The average state employee earns $36 thousand per year. All Executive Branch cabinets were asked to report the value of personal service contracts and the number of full time equivalent employees those contracts represented. The information also showed that four agencies (GOT, Public Protection, Workforce Development, and Health Services) were over their agency personnel caps when contract employees were counted. The Legislative Research Commission report of October 2001 entitled Executive Branch Contracting: Inconsistent Procedures Limit Accountability and Efficiency, and recent news reports, note there is no central data repository for information regarding contract employees of the Commonwealth. "Our work gives decision makers needed information as they begin the next budget preparation cycle," Auditor Ed Hatchett said. |
|
|
|