By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-878810.mp3
Dallas, TX –
The city of Dallas has a new priority in 2010: make a list of how many building it owns. KERA's BJ Austin says the lack of a complete inventory of city property came to light in an audit of building maintenance.
A new audit report on maintenance found that Equipment and Building Services does not maintain a complete inventory of all city-owned buildings. The audit says no one does. Three departments have lists based on different criteria, and each has a different number. Building Services says the city owns 840 buildings; Risk Management 785; the Office of Financial Services says 831.
Dr. Bob Bland, Chair of the Public Administration Department at the University of North Texas, says he's not surprised by the absence of a single list.
Bland: In part, that's probably a reflection of how governments go about making decisions on building or acquiring fixed assets because that's a highly decentralized process.
Dr. Bland says the city's properties are probably accounted for in various departments, but
Bland: It looks bad, I mean for the average taxpayer. Why doesn't the city have some idea of where all its assets are and their state of condition?
The audit says building maintenance has suffered because of the confusion. And the lists that do exist need to be updated. One building burned down a few years ago. The Bridge, the new homeless center, American Airlines Center, the Farmers Market and the Cotton Bowl are not on the Building Services master list of city properties.
Council member Anne Margolin says a master-list of more than two billion dollars worth of commercial property is critical to budgeting for operation and maintenance.
Margolin: I think we probably need to do a better job of knowing year to year what we should be doing in regard to O&M on our buildings. To be honest, this is the first time that it's come to my attention that we didn't have anything that is consistent across all parts of the city.
Reporter: Was that surprising?
Margolin: Yes.
The City Manager says Equipment and Building Services is undergoing a re-organization, and a decision about what department should be in charge of the property list will be made by March first. The city should know how many buildings it owns, with accompanying information about what shape they're in, by September 30th.