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Hartford, CT (WFSB) — Another round of the I-Team’s ‘You Bought It, They Lost It’ series features a state agency that’s charged with protecting consumers.
The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection is the agency whose entire mission is based around having your back, like protecting consumers from unscrupulous contractors, monitoring public access to liquor and drugs, and licensing professionals in a variety of fields.
However, a review of thousands of state inventory records the I-Team obtained from the Office of the State Comptroller shows the agency that protects consumers may not be doing as good of a job at protecting taxpayers.
In late 2016, the state began moving out of an office building near the state capitol in Hartford, to a new facility on Columbus Boulevard.
When the Department of Consumer Protection made that move, it turns out they left a lot behind, like cameras, laptops, scanners, printers.
A missing property report lists items purchased for more than $44,000 that taxpayers bought and they lost, and it wasn’t just that one move that went bad.
The Department of Consumer Protection also consolidated some other offices to the new location including buildings they were using in Plainville and Newington. Again, items were left behind.
This time, the whopping original purchase price was $262,787 that taxpayers bought and they lost, all because it was easier than making the move.
A Department of Consumer Protection spokeswoman told the I-Team “the items in question are various installed systems i.e.: telephone, voicemail, security systems that were adjusted off Department of Consumer Protection’s inventory because they were not removed from the locations they were installed. If you notice the report does not say ‘missing items” instead it now says ‘adjustment’.”
While that’s true, the form also notes that inventory procedures weren’t followed and says better steps are being implemented in the future to dispose of items like this according to state policy.
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