Auditor: Sound Transit wrongly spent money on sponsorships

Sound Transit violated the state Constitution when it spent more than $8,050 on event sponsorships for three nonprofits, according to a state auditor's investigation.

The money, spent since April 2006, was an unauthorized gift of taxpayer funds because it wasn't used to educate the public about transit services, said the auditor's report, released this week.

Sound Transit continued buying sponsorships even after the auditor warned the agency in June 2007 that those were improper, the report says.

However, the auditor said the agency didn't violate the Constitution by paying $156,000 in membership dues to the Transportation Choices Coalition, since 1999. Although the coalition promotes transit campaigns, both the coalition and Sound Transit argued that the $156,000 was segregated within the coalition's budget for public outreach about transit choices.

Critics have long complained that Sound Transit uses public money to manufacture political support. The auditor's review was sparked by a complaint from the Washington Policy Center, and last summer KIRO-TV aired an investigative report about the issue.