The report, completed by the Legislative Division of Post Audit, found:

• KDWP followed most of the state's requirements to lease space for its regional office but substantially exceeded state space guidelines by more than three times. Currently the office provides 980 square feet for each of its 10 employees. The overall State standard is 210-250 square feet per employee.
• KDWP received other two lease offers closer to its advertised need (4,000 square feet) but chose the campus office because the adjacent land was promised as a state park.
• The lease provisions don't address recouping any of the $113,000 spent to remodel the building.
• The lease provisions don't specify an eventual purchase price even though KDWP was intending to buy the building in the short-run and despite recommendations from the Dept of Administration the lease set a lease-purchase price.
• The recent $700,000 appraisal of the building and property is nearly triple the 2004 appraised value of $275,000 when KDWP signed its lease.

Post Audit Committee Chairman Peggy Mast (R-Emporia) said the report confirms concerns she and other legislators had about KDWP’s lease and potential purchase of the building.

"I am disappointed the Department of Wildlife and Parks was not more diligent in the use of Kansas taxpayer dollars," said Rep. Mast. "Between lease payments and renovation expenses, KDWP will spend more than the property's 2004 appraised value. Locating the regional office near the new state park may be ideal but the trade-off in getting the location has been spending significantly more for more space then the department needs. This is not being good stewards of our tax dollars."

As the past chair of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Budget Committee, Rep. Sharon Schwartz said she wasn’t surprised by what the audit found.

"KDWP completely ignored the efforts and oversight of the legislature in its pursuit to lease this office space," said Rep. Schwartz. "Committee members continually expressed concerns with costs and the actions of KDWP but Secretary Mike Hayden assured us leasing was the right financial move to make. Now we know this wasn't good public policy. In the long run, this building is going to cost Kansas taxpayers more than a million dollars for a building that is 15 to 20 years old."

Post Audit Committee member Rep. John Grange (R-El Dorado) questioned why the state got involved with a lease instead of buying the building.

"When I read KDWP, an agency under the governor's authority, signed the lease just 48 hours after a group called River Ridge Estates, LLC bought the property and then see the company consist of a man whose wife works for the governor, a man who was appointed to his job by the governor, and several others who contributed to the governor's campaigns, it makes me wonder how did these guys get such a sweetheart deal" asked Rep. Grange.

The Legislative Division of Post Audit also made two main recommendations:

• KDWP determine whether another agency could sublease a portion of the unused space to ensure the lease is more cost-effective.
• Dept. of Administration's Division of Facilities Management adopts procedural changes that would make the terms of future lease-purchase agreements more specific.

"With the value of the building now sitting at $700,000, it is clear misjudgments were made to lease instead of buy the building outright in 2004. We must make sure Kansans don't pay twice for the investments they have already made when KDWP moves forward with the purchase of the building,: said Mast.

Kansans can read the complete audit prepared by the Legislative Division of Post Audit at http://www.kslegislature.org/postaudit/.

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