By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis – Missouri State Auditor Claire McCaskill says her office will look into cost overruns at the St. Louis transit agency Metro.
Last month, agency officials announced that the light rail extension from Forest Park to Shrewsbury could go more than $100 million over its original $550 million cost estimate.
McCaskill said her staff will look at Metro in its entirety, not just at the construction project.
"It is impossible to do a thorough job of just auditing a project without looking at the agency, and how the agency conducts its business," McCaskill said. "And so of course this will involve looking at the agency, and while we're there, of course we're always going to want to look at the state funds that Metro receives.
McCaskill said the audit will probably take about a year, and she hopes to start it in May.
Metro spokeswoman Adella Jones says part of the cost overruns are due to incompetence and fraud by a team of design firms the agency has since fired and is now suing.