It seems officials at the Department of Transportation need to keep a closer eye on employee travel reimbursements.
A recent audit shows eight employees working on the Tappan Zee Bridge project in Tarrytown not only improperly received travel reimbursements for their daily commutes, but for commutes they weren’t even making from 2007 to 2011.
Over the course of four years, the employees collectively received $320,756 for commuting expenses, including car mileage and toll costs.
More than $100,000 in payments were even made after DOT managers were aware of the issue, according to state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
“DOT needs to make sure its managers are aware of state travel rules and enforce them,” DiNapoli said  in a press release. “After an internal audit identified the improper payments, DOT continued to make them, even with multiple opportunities to remedy the situation. DOT needs to do a better job protecting taxpayer dollars and ensuring its employees are not paid for routine commuting costs.”
An administrative error had allowed the employees to collect reimbursements and for commutes farther away than they were traveling. The reimbursements were calculated based off mileage to Poughkeepsie instead of Tarrytown. None of the expenses were reported as taxable either.
DOT officials have agreed to take actions to resolve the issue and ensure each of its official stations is in compliance with state travel rules.
