Audit reviews airport use of federal stimulus funds

By Kelly Yamanouchi

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

An audit by the Atlanta city auditor's office found that federal stimulus grants awarded to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for its new international terminal under construction were generally managed properly.

Hartsfield-Jackson received a $20 million federal grant for an international terminal baggage screening system and a $14 million federal grant for pavement in the international terminal's "apron" area around the terminal where aircraft are parked and refueled. The international terminal has an overall budget of about $1.4 billion.

The audit found that project management was sufficient and the airport has strong controls in place, but recommended that the airport could strengthen fraud prevention and detection efforts. In response, the airport is posting fraud awareness signs at construction sites.

According to the audit, the airport did not follow some provisions of the federal recovery act for planning and procurement. However, that was because the projects were already under way before the city accepted the grants, as the federal government sought "shovel-ready" projects to fund.

The city auditor reviewed the aviation grants because the airport was a major recipient of federal stimulus funds, but city auditor Leslie Ward said she also plans an audit that takes a "high-level look" at all of the other city departments that received stimulus grants.