According to statute, the Building Commission had been charged with the engineering, design, and construction of capital improvement projects funded by legislative appropriation to state agencies. The commission also coordinated major repair and renovation projects funded by state appropriations. All new construction projects were contracted to architect/engineers for engineering and design and to construction contractors for the actual building. Capital improvement projects contracted by the commission were at their highest levels in history; however, commission staff had not been increased to accomplish the heavier workload.
The accounting and financial control system was seriously deficient, and the current system of contract document management and administration was weak and ineffective. Some state agencies and institutions were contracting separately with architect/engineers and construction contractors at costs higher than Building Commission rates. In general, there was minimal accountability for the money in land investments and capital and plant expenditures. Further, duplication, overlap, and division of effort existed in areas of facilities’ maintenance responsibility and real property accountability.
The PEER Committee recommended that the state designate one agency to provide management overview of state-owned lands and facilities. The agency would be involved with all aspects of property management and would provide the Legislature with complete information on property management. By statute, the agency would develop management policies and procedures that would insure the most efficient and economical utilization and care of state-owned property. The final chapter in the report detailed a property management concept that would accomplish these objectives.
For a paper copy of this report, contact PEER by telephone at 601-359-1226 or by e-mail at reports@peer.ms.gov.