Consultants are waste of money

The News Virginian / News Virginian
Published: March 2, 2008

President Bush has his economic stimulus package and Augusta County supervisors have theirs. Bush sends checks to taxpayers. Supervisors ship money to consultants, some so far away they think Old Dominion is a mixed drink.

At least Bush shares a redistributed slice of the wealth with millions of people. Augusta's beneficiaries include a select group of firms scattered from Richmond to Florida. Representatives from these outfits surely show up around these parts for such tasks as signing six-figure contracts, picking up county checks or occasionally popping in at government meetings. Otherwise, we suspect they are as likely to encounter local taxpayers as they are pterodactyls.

Inquiring taxpayers might want to know precisely what their money has gained them. Supervisors over the last two years have approved almost $1 million in spending on consultants. The county poured slightly less than half that money into the $440,000 megasite study for the Toyota plant that never made it to Weyers Cave. Swamps in Jersey are worth more than that study.

Another consultant, Texas-based Duncan Associates, will take home $176,140 for reviewing county zoning, subdivision and stormwater ordinances. Updates to the ordinances are needed as a result of the county revising its comprehensive plan. Duncan will make money enough to buy plenty of 10-gallon hats, but whether local taxpayers will feel real impact from the investment is unknown.

Their zest for filling consultants' pockets still not sated, county supervisors voted 6-0 Wednesday to dole out another $147,710, this time to Florida-based Moran, Stahl & Boyer to produce a study on how to attract and retain industries.

Pastures Supervisor Tracy Pyles, the idea's leading proponent, cites the mostly desolate Mill Place Commerce Park as cause for a consultant's further review. Taxpayers' wallets will be as empty as the industrial park if supervisors continue throwing money at consultants.

Middle River Supervisor Gerald Garber initially resisted hiring Moran, Stahl & Boyer but eventually climbed aboard, voting with his fingers clasped to his nostrils. Garber worried that the consultants would produce a mostly redundant document, providing the county with little new information and using staffers' time to help do the work. He favored simply hiring an economic development director, something the study might well recommend anyway.

Even as he sided with Pyles, Garber said, "I still have a great disdain for studies." Unfortunately, the sentiment is not shared. The county has plunged plenty of taxpayer money into thick studies thin on results. The latest study appears bound only to replicate previous waste.

County supervisors should slam the brakes on runaway spending on consultants. The dividends do not appear to be worth taxpayers' investment.