Savings? Are You Kidding? This Is Doyle Government Here

Oh, sure, we'll SAVE a bunch of money.

Or not. AP reports:

A state plan to consolidate computer systems has run up tens of millions in cost overruns, a review released Thursday found.

The Legislative Audit Bureau study found efforts to consolidate state servers will cost $110 million by next June, more than nine times their original price tag. A project to consolidate state e-mail systems finished last year cost $13.4 million, more than five times its original estimate.

Doyle, who heads The Most Incompetent Administration Ever, promised $200 million in savings from the ACE project.

Dan Schooff, deputy secretary of Doyle's Department of Administration, said the plan helped state agencies generate $35.5 million in savings that went back to the state's general fund. The $200 million figure came from a press release, he said, and "I didn't grade this against a press release."

Which is another way of saying that the Doyle Administration is either 1) a bunch of liars or 2) a bunch of "who cares?" lifetime bureaucratic twits--or both.

Other findings:

-The state saved about $19 million by pooling agencies' purchasing powers. But DOA paid four contractors $15.2 million to create and start ACE.

-ACE anticipated millions of dollars from the sale of surplus state property. The 2005-07 and 2007-09 budgets authorized DOA to sell $36 million and $40 million worth of property, respectively, but the agency managed to sell only $9.6 million over those four years.

-Efforts to fold some personnel duties from seven state agencies into DOA appear to have worked. Employees in each agency told auditors they generally have been satisfied with DOA staff.

Nice to know that DOA staff fits right in with other agencies. Wowsers.