Posted on 09/12/25
| News Source: Maryland Matters
Baltimore, MD - Sept. 12, 2025 - A troubling audit of State Highway Administration finances could draw the scrutiny of a legislative oversight panel in Annapolis later this year, lawmakers said Thursday.
State Highway Administration officials “knowingly charged” nearly $360 million in unauthorized expenses to federal fund projects in an attempt to hide a deficit in the state’s Transportation Trust Fund, according to a report released Thursday by the Office of Legislative Audits.
The audit looked at the period between Nov. 1, 2020, and Oct. 31, 2024, based on a complaint to the office’s fraud, waste and abuse hotline reporting a recent “rapid increase in the federal funds receivable balance.”
It found that expenditures for more than 500 projects with $50,000 or more in expenses may not be recoverable. To cover the gap, the state may have to tap a $400 million Transportation Trust Fund balance or state general funds, according to the audit.
Del. Jared Solomon (D-Montgomery), the House co-chair of the Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee, said the committee could bring the agency in for a hearing later this year.
“I’m concerned with the findings and look forward to reviewing the documents and working with our auditors and agency partners to better understand how this happened,” Solomon said Thursday after the release of the audit.
Timing of a hearing is uncertain: Solomon said he and Sen. Shelly Hettleman (D-Baltimore County), the Senate co-chair, are working to finalize the committee’s fall schedule.