SALT LAKE CITY — The price tag for the Legislature's audit of the University of Utah Athletics Department was $203,000, a lawmaker critical of the examination of the sports program said.
"Utah athletic audit cost state taxpayers $203,000," Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City, posted Wednesday on Twitter.
During a review of the audit Monday, Dabakis said it should have never been done and that U. Athletics Director Chris Hill was owed "a giant apology."
Legislative leaders ordered the audit a year ago, after Utah Utes basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak, along with Hill, canceled a contracted game with the BYU Cougars over what he said was concern for player safety.
The performance audit by the Legislative Auditor General's Office found Krystkowiak had paid $20,000 of the $80,000 cancellation fee he vowed to personally cover, but it could not be verified whether he used personal or donated funds.
Other issues raised in the audit included the need for the campus to strengthen its budgetary management and controls, such as keeping track of big-ticket items such as large-screen TVs and laptop computers.
Legislative Auditor General John Schaff said a typical audit costs between $120,000 and $150,000, but performance audits are more expensive. Schaff said this one turned out to be "more complicated that we expected."
The price tag was $203,000 because auditors were "looking at the equivalent of a whole department with a huge budget," he said, a project that required three full-time auditors, an intern and an audit manager.
Schaff said he believes auditors did a good job and raised issues other campuses are now focused on, too.
That sentiment was echoed by Senate President Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, who said the results were worth the price because they revealed the need for stronger oversight.
"Those things can be corrected now and hopefully taxpayer dollars and our investments are safer," said Niederhauser, one of the legislative leaders who voted in February 2016 to conduct the audit released last November.
The decision was made to take a closer look at the athletics department as lawmakers were talking about mandating the game between the U. and BYU be played.
The reason Krystkowiak gave at the time for canceling the game was that there needed to be a "cooling-off period" because emotions between the two schools were escalating toward "potential for serious injury."
BYU coach Dave Rose responded then by saying the decision didn't make sense, and in his 32 years of coaching at various levels, he had never had a school back out of a game.