WASHINGTON, D.C. – Whenever public officials start talking about spending billions of dollars to renovate buildings, taxpayers should be wary.

That’s particularly true when the work is going to occur in Washington, D.C., where gross overspending of public dollars is a time-honored tradition.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

In 2006 the D.C. City Council adopted the $1.3 billion School Modernization Financing Act to pay for renovations to various public school buildings.

A 2015 review of the project, conducted by the Office of the District of Columbia Auditor, revealed that the “district school modernization plan has failed to comply with D.C. code and lacks accountability, transparency and basic financial management.”

Among other things, the audit highlighted the following problems with the project:

  • “The Mayor, D.C. Council, and CFO disregarded the funding provisions of the School Modernization Financing Act of 2006.”
  • “For 166 out of 458 project budget transfers reviewed, representing $168,997,484 in budgetary authority, ODCA could not verify that the project expenditures were approved before they were made.”
  • “High school modernizations have exceeded the cost per square foot standard.”
  • “The District failed to collect required documentation for school modernization contracts and may have spent more on construction costs than was necessary or contractually required.”
  • “$44,945 of funds allocated for the District’s school modernization program were instead spent on parks and community centers.”
  • “The District Government failed to monitor school modernizations for compliance with statute, contracts, best practices, and to secure cost savings.”

In other words, the project has been grossly mismanaged and money has been wasted.

One example in the audit shows how cost overruns have gone through the roof.

Part of the project involved the renovation of the Duke Ellington School for the Arts. The original cost estimate in 2012 was $71 million. Since then the budget for the building renovation has ballooned to $178 million,’ according to a report from DCist.com.

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

“The D.C. Auditor’s office released a report today detailing how the Department of General Services failed to provide adequate information to the D.C. Council so that Ellington’s modernization plans would be clear and concise from the onset,” the news service reported. “Instead, DGS has added more money in each year’s capital improvement budget, until the cost of the school’s renovation has more than doubled.

“One reason for the price jump is the school’s location remaining at the site of the former Western High School at 35th and R streets NW. According to the report, a less expensive site was turned down for no given reason. A plan for underground parking has also expanded the cost.”

Ironically, the renovated school will be underutilized once the expensive improvements are made, unless other uses are found for the building, the audit report found.

“…Students who attend the historic performing arts school have schedules atypical of most DCPS students. Consequently, significant amounts of space will go unused for extended periods of time once the building’s upgrades are complete,” Dcist.com reported.