Louisiana Is Missing Over $16 Million Dollars In Government Property

WVUE in New Orleans has reported that in 2013, the state of Louisiana had $16 million dollars of state property go missing. In the report, which you can watch below, it shows you what exactly went missing.

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This is pretty ridiculous, how does so much stuff just disappear? Things like computers, cattle and even things like sleeper chairs and mannequin training dolls have gone missing. Below is a graphic of the increase of Louisiana's "missing inventory" and how it continues to rise.

You can actually see the database showing you the detail of the increase of missing items here.

Residents and politicians are furious over this situation, including State Representative John Schroder of Covington who said:

Somebody's got to look into this… That's ridiculous.

The media tried to reach out to the Louisiana Division of Administration, who declined an interview but did email the following statement:

Statement: The Recovery School District reported more than 28 percent of its movable property missing in its 2014 inventory. Because of the large volume of missing inventory, [the Louisiana Property Assistance Agency] disapproved the agency's property certification and completed an internal investigation on the losses. We have since reported our findings on the issue to the Attorney General and Legislative Auditor for further review.

Background:

• Each agency conducts an inventory once a year and reports findings to LPAA
• LPAA reviews the agency's report and makes a decision regarding the status of the inventory.
• LPAA provides a letter to the Legislative Auditor regarding each agencies inventory status
• LPAA requires agencies keep missing items on inventory for 3-years, to allow time to find the items. Many items are located throughout the process.
• After three years, if missing items are not found, the inventory is written off
• Each year LPAA audits 1/3 of the 337 state agencies for compliance with property rules and regulations.
• If an agency reports an unusual amount of missing inventory, LPAA further investigates.
• LPAA gathers data and reports the findings to the Commissioner of Administration. Depending on the findings, DOA may notify the Attorney General.
• After the results of this year's investigation, we notified the Attorney General of LPAA's findings regarding RSD's missing inventory.