The state auditor says he recently found a public school district spent more than $300 a night on hotels when they could have stayed at a place right across the street for less than half of that amount. From our Statehouse Bureau Jo Ingles has more from auditor David Yost.
Yost wants to make sure local governments and school districts know the standard definition for abuse when it comes to audits.
"This isn't about gotcha. I don't want anybody to be caught by surprise. But, at the same time, I've noticed there are a small number of folks that tend to treat the public treasury as their personal travel agent," Yost says.
Yost says he's seen cases where public officials have spent public money on swanky hotels or lavish travel when they could have spent far less. And he says if and when he sees it again, he'll file a finding for abuse. And that could lead up to the people who took the swanky trip being prosecuted for it.