Thu, Jul 02, 2009
Costs Not Included In Auditor's Report
Florida Gubernatorial
candidates Alex Sink (D) and Bill McCollum (R) have both used state
planes for travel between Tallahassee, which for you non-Floridians
is in the northern panhandle, and their central Florida homes,
according to a report in the Miami Herald. Sink is the state's
Chief Financial Officer, and McCollum is the State Attorney
General.
Both have occasionally had an empty state-owned plane dispatched
from Tallahassee to pick them up in Central Florida and take them
to official events as well. The planes sometimes returned to
Tallahassee empty following those official trips.
Tallahassee television station WMBB is reporting that state
auditors "expressed concern" that Sink and McCollum might be
misusing state airplanes for personal travel. Other than having
empty aircraft flown to pick them up at their homes, examples cited
side trips to drop off family members or staff. The Department of
Management Services (DMS) says the travel in question may have cost
Florida taxpayers as much as $51,000, and raises some IRS
concerns.
Sink said she has reimbursed the state for any personal use of
the airplanes. McCollum's office has denied the claims, according
to WMBB.
Sink told the Miami Herald she was the person responsible for
having the state's aircraft logs put online for public inspection.
She defended the use of the planes, saying it is "important to get
around the state and talk to people outside of Tallahassee."
State law prohibits
officials from using state aircraft for travel between Tallahassee
and their homes in the state. A DMS says there is nothing to
indicate that either official has violated that law, or rules
governing the use if state aircraft.
Meanwhile, the chair of the state Senate Budget Committee has
recommended the sale of one of the state's two planes. JD Alexander
says that would eliminate the temptation to use them.
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