Open Illinois.org

Using information from the Institute’s transparency website, IllinoisOpenGov.org, I found that in 2008 and 2009 (up until the time of our FOIA requests), the Department of Transportation spent $226,117.57 on projects labeled “site improvements.”  These projects were handled by a number of different contractors, but the most expensive ones were A-1 Lock Inc, which received $87,431.8 in 2009; and Midwest Garage Door, which was paid $62,930.28 in 2009.  A complete breakdown of the different vendors and the sizes of their contracts can be found in the table below.  The Department of Transportation increased its spending on site improvements more then seven fold from $27,879 in 2008, to $198,238.57 in 2009.  As noted on other occasions, labeling these contracts as “site improvements” provides taxpayers with minimal information on what services were preformed for the $225,000.

You can find this information for yourself by going to IllinoisOpenGov.org, clicking on “Checks to Businesses & Individuals” and searching for “Site Improvements” in the “category of spending” section.