Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim is a big supporter of Light Rail - which is why when he found out about the budget busting problems under HRT's management, he immediately had the city begin its own investigation.
"Our intial look at this, which we think was a good one, when we heard about the overruns from the last budget is that there is about a $40 million overrun," Fraim said.
Mayor Fraim believes his calculations are correct, even though HRT has hired their own auditor to crunch the numbers, and their full report won't be finished for a couple of days.
"There is an independent auditing company called AE-COM which HRT has brought in. Their number is in the $50 million range. We think at least right now we think our number is better," Fraim said.
Even if Mayor Fraim's math is correct, the project is millions of dollars over budget.
Fraim said the city of Norfolk will not be paying for this.
"If it stays at $40 million we think we know where there are at least three pockets of money from the state level and a couple of federal pockets where that overrun can be handled."
Before anyone pays anything for these cost overruns, Fraim says the city of Norfolk will first see if they can get a handle on the runaway budget to get Light Rail back on track.
Fraim said he is going to get the numbers down by "trying to have better understandings with contractors."
"We expect to be at the table everyday, making decisions about how money will be spent in the future."
Even with the budget overruns Mayor Fraim says all of the tracks will be finished by the end of this summer. He says residents should expect to see The Tide trains on track and ready to ride by this time next year.
"Our intial look at this, which we think was a good one, when we heard about the overruns from the last budget is that there is about a $40 million overrun," Fraim said.
Mayor Fraim believes his calculations are correct, even though HRT has hired their own auditor to crunch the numbers, and their full report won't be finished for a couple of days.
"There is an independent auditing company called AE-COM which HRT has brought in. Their number is in the $50 million range. We think at least right now we think our number is better," Fraim said.
Even if Mayor Fraim's math is correct, the project is millions of dollars over budget.
Fraim said the city of Norfolk will not be paying for this.
"If it stays at $40 million we think we know where there are at least three pockets of money from the state level and a couple of federal pockets where that overrun can be handled."
Before anyone pays anything for these cost overruns, Fraim says the city of Norfolk will first see if they can get a handle on the runaway budget to get Light Rail back on track.
Fraim said he is going to get the numbers down by "trying to have better understandings with contractors."
"We expect to be at the table everyday, making decisions about how money will be spent in the future."
Even with the budget overruns Mayor Fraim says all of the tracks will be finished by the end of this summer. He says residents should expect to see The Tide trains on track and ready to ride by this time next year.
