In the latest case of astonishing government incompetence, the Washington State Ferries spent $5.3 million of hard-earned taxpayer dollars on generators that the agency later discovered didn’t work on ferries. The story gets worse when you factor in that this happened nearly nine years ago and, since then, the agency has been paying $3,500/month to store the unused generators. That’s an additional $378,000 of taxpayer dollars wasted.
Last month, the Washington State Ferries listed the generators on the Public Surplus website with an opening price of $300,000. There are no bids for the generators—surprise, surprise.
Apparently, the agency attempted to sell the generators in the past was not successful. Despite that fact, ferries spokesman Ian Sterling insists they will be purchased for scrap—at, of course, a huge loss.
I hate the budget abscess that is the PUBLIC ferry system. $13 subsidy per ticket. I have the research.
Even if you wanted one of the generators at a good value you are forced into buying all or none…just another case of our government at work.
SO typical of another state run agency, waste waste waste and NO ONE held accountable
And do you know why nobody has bid on the old generators? Because the Federal EPA laws have made them obsolete because of emission laws….but they could be sold to other parts of the world where they have no emission laws.