A years-long audit of the construction of the embattled Southwest Light Rail line has concluded the Metropolitan Council had issues with “non-compliance” and a lack of “internal controls” managing the mega project, which is now expected to cost taxpayers $2.86 billion.

The presentation by the Office of the Legislative Auditor also gave frustrated lawmakers another opportunity to tee off on Met Council Chair Charlie Zelle. 

“You can’t blame it on anyone else, blame it on the consultant, you are the decision maker,” said Sen. Mark Koran (R-North Branch) at the hearing on Monday morning.

The audit highlighted huge discrepancies in estimating the costs of hundreds of change orders on the project, including one for the construction of a barrier along the Kenilworth Corridor, which drove up the price of the project by more than $40 million.

Those details prompted outrage from both sides of the political aisle, including Sen. Scott Dibble (DFL-Minneapolis), who has been calling for the reform of the Met Council for years.

“It’s exactly what happens when an organization feels no pressure to be transparent, to be accountable to the public that it serves,” Dibble said.

Lori Leysen, Deputy Legislative Auditor, also called out failures to track the hauling and disposal of contaminated soils from construction sites along the 14-and-a-half-mile line. 

“They’re signing off on blank forms that don’t contain the necessary information,” Leysen said. “What we found is that the council had overpaid (contractor) Lunda McCrossan by about $330,000 as of March 31st of 2023.”

Zelle denied that such overpayments actually happened. 

“We’re really pleased to report and verify that subsequent reconciliation has assured there was no overpayments,” Zelle said.

But that rebuttal only seemed to further anger lawmakers such as Sen. Steve Drazkowski( R-Mazeppa).

“Don’t be giving us that,” Drazkowski said. “How can you know? How can anyone know?”

Amid the barrage of questions and comments from lawmakers, Zelle shared that the work to extend the Green Line from Minneapolis to Eden Prairie is now 85% complete.

For now, the estimated total cost remains at $2,860,000,000.

“These numbers are beyond comprehension for the average citizen,” Koran said.

Zelle acknowledged the Met Council’s “faults” during the project and insisted many changes have already been made.

“This is by far the largest and most complicated infrastructure mega project ever in the history of Minnesota,” Zelle said. “Overall, we are very proud of this project.”

The Met Council says it expects trains to begin running on Southwest Light Rail sometime in 2027.