‘Hamlet,’ limos and hotel tabs spurred questions
SACRAMENTO — State auditors on Friday provided new details of questionable travel and entertainment expenses approved by the University of California system.
The amounts are small compared with the main finding of the April 25 audit that UC’s Office of the President failed to disclose tens of millions of dollars in reserve funds, but the audit said the questioned expenses represent issues that should be addressed.
“Our review of three travel expense claims found an instance in which reimbursements exceeded allowable amounts for federal and state employees,” the audit said. “Specifically, one employee spent more than $350 per night on a hotel room, even though this cost exceeded the federal and state allowable limits by $140 per night.”
That expense was for three nights at the Lord Baltimore Hotel — costing $1,283, including taxes — so a procurement manager could attend an Institute for Supply Management conference in Baltimore.
UC spokeswoman Dianne Klein said the employee provided details showing all less-expensive hotels in the vicinity were sold out. “That was why it was approved,” Klein said, noting that without taxes and fees the room rate was approximately $348.00 per night.
“In our review of the three travel reimbursement claims, we identified six instances in which employees claimed over the state’s maximum meal rate of $46 per day,” the audit added.
The audit also questioned $45 for tickets to see “Hamlet” at a theater in London, though the employee said it was part of a cultural exchange event.
Some of the questioned expenses occurred during a $20,000 trip UC President Janet Napolitano took from Feb. 17 to 27 last year to Washington, D.C., London, Berlin and Geneva.
Auditors did not question the use of business class airfare. Napolitano was granted an exemption from the rule requiring employees to fly economy class because she had just had surgery.
The questioned expenses were listed as “limousine” services costing $175 and $195 on two days during her time in Berlin to meet with UC researchers and German government officials. Klein said the vehicles were town cars, not limos, and were justified because of the surgery recovery.
An auditor spokeswoman noted that Napolitano had used a $25 taxi a day later, and one concern was that the vehicle was hired for the full day when a taxi fare might have been cheaper.
“We would’ve expected to see justification for using the limousine service as opposed to an alternate mode,” said spokeswoman Margarita Fernández.
Napolitano faces bigger questionsas legislators begin holding hearings on the audit’s broader findings.
State Auditor Elaine Howle said the amount UC initially reported to auditors for travel, business meetings and entertainment expenses over four years was about $25 million short of the $35 million total auditors found. Howle asked for information from four years, and UC provided a portion of the data, but for five years.
The data show trips for conferences or university business to Paris, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Tokyo, China, Israel and India.