Virginia Beach City Auditor Lyndon Remias will open a scheduled inquiry into the city’s light rail project Monday.
His staff will examine receipts, expenses, budgets and plans to make sure every dime spent visualizing the line is “authorized and reasonable,” he said. The probe should take two to three months and will provide the most accurate tally to date of how the city has spent money on the line, well ahead of a November voter referendum on the project.
“We don’t want to get down the line … and have people asking where all the money went,” Remias said.
The project, which has been estimated to cost as much as $310 million, is so mammoth and controversial that Remais said he had to examine it as some point. The audit is part his office’s 2015-16 schedule and not the result of an allegation or investigation, he said.
The proposal, which would extend Norfolk’s line about 3 miles to Town Center, has generated movements in support and opposition. Polls have been conducted on it, more in-depth design work is underway and dozens of residents have pleaded with the City Council to sign or reject some aspect of the project. This month, a judge was needed to decide if a petition drive had enough signatures for the referendum — it did.
Remias said his office didn’t plan the audit around any of that, “but the timing is pretty good.”
Virginia Beach has spent more than $20 million toward the the line, according to city memos and information published on the city’s website. Expenses include right-of-way acquisition, land for a rail station and office space for engineers designing the project.
Remias’ office will look into those expenditures and the related budgets and accounts, he said.
“The public wants to know how much we spent and where we’re (financially) at,” he said.
In a few months, they will.
Have a story idea or news tip? Contact City Hall reporter Judah Taylor at [email protected] or 757-490-2750.
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Previous coverage:
- May 13: Virginia Beach light rail referendum to go on November ballot after judge’s ruling
- May 5: Virginia Beach needs to get ‘lean & mean’ on light rail, expert panel says
- April 5: Beach Council keeps light rail moving, approves agreement with state while crowd turns out for, against
- March 25: 30,000 signatures turned in for Virginia Beach light rail referendum; organizers turn focus to PR campaign
- March 16: Light rail: It’s a human rights issue, commission says
- March 15: Virginia Beach City Council hears plans for light rail car purchase
- March 14: Beach council members withdraw light rail referendum request
- March 8: Second Virginia Beach light rail referendum finds support on City Council
- irginia Beach releases proposed light rail agreement with state, HRT
- March 3: Virginia Beach light rail referendum has plenty of signatures to happen, organizer says
- March 2: Review of Beach light rail project stresses importance of utility work before construction
- Feb. 22: Virginia Beach light rail expenditures could reach nearly $19 million more than a year before vote
- Feb. 20: Light rail timeline emerges
- Feb. 17: Virginia Beach must sign light rail agreement with state by April 30 to keep project alive
- Feb. 16: Virginia Beach light rail car purchase delayed
- Feb. 16: State transportation board to give Virginia Beach ultimatum on light rail
- Feb. 15: National public transportation group to review Virginia Beach light rail project at state’s request
- Feb. 15: HRT to reveal new light rail project details
- Feb. 13: If Beach puts light rail to a referendum, state official will recommend pulling funding
- Feb. 2: Virginia Beach City Council to hear light rail car purchase plan next month
- Dec. 1: Dyer submits draft resolution for Virginia Beach light rail referendum
- Nov. 24: Virginia Beach can’t alter light rail timeline if it wants state money, transportation official says
- Nov. 9: Beach light rail referendum effort closing in on 10,000 signatures
- Nov. 3: Light rail drives supporters, critics to Virginia Beach polls
- Oct. 28: Secretary of Transportation on state light rail money: Use it or lose it
- Oct. 21: Beach budget retains light rail funding as Moss’ proposal fails
- Oct. 19: Public invited to speak on proposal to defund light rail
- Oct. 6: Beach councilman calls for new light rail referendum
- Oct. 5: City looks to save on light rail by cutting federal ties
