Legislative auditors find weaknesses in Met Council oversight of Southwest LRT; council disputes some findings

A Legislative Audit Commission briefing on April 7, 2025, opened with the Office of Legislative Auditor presenting findings that the Metropolitan Council and its civil construction contractor, Lunda‑McCrossan, showed instances of noncompliance and internal control weaknesses while building the Southwest Light Rail Transit (Southwest LRT) project.

“For the record, my name is Lori Lisen, I’m the deputy legislative auditor for the financial audit division at the Office of the Legislative Auditor,” Lisen told commissioners and later summarized the office’s conclusions: “we found that the Metropolitan Council had instances of noncompliance and weaknesses [in] internal controls in the areas of change order, disadvantaged business enterprises, contaminated soils, and the monitoring over the physical security.”

Why it matters: the Southwest LRT (also called the Green Line Extension) is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the state. The OLA audit covered January 1, 2019 through March 31, 2023 and focused on Lunda‑McCrossan’s subcontractor and supplier activity, change orders, prompt payment, use of disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs), contaminated‑soil disposal, and security at contractor laydown areas. The matters affect taxpayer oversight, contractor compliance with federal DBE rules and the council’s ability to verify that paid work and disposed materials relate to the project.

Major findings and figures

- Change orders and cost estimating: OLA found the council did not apply a consistent variance threshold or written guidance when comparing its cost estimates to those of Lunda‑McCrossan for change orders. The auditors showed examples where initial Met Council and contractor estimates differed widely and the council’s revised estimate moved toward the contractor’s number without a documented rule for determining whether a contractor’s estimate was “fair and reasonable.” The report lists multiple large variances (exhibit 5 in the report) used by the auditors to support the finding.

- Disadvanta…