State Agency Office Renovations Spark Funding Questions

By Charles Bassett, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A state agency is coming under fire from a political watchdog over office renovations.

The Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System administers retirement benefits to teachers and employees working in public education in Oklahoma. The agency recently spent about $115,000 for renovations of their offices in the Hodge Building near the state Capitol.

The administrator, James Wilbanks, said the bulk of the renovations were spent on converting computer rooms into offices for client privacy. Right now, clients are serviced in cubicles where privacy is limited. The renovations will allow employees to have a private space when talking to clients about their retirement funds.

"We've had those conversations taking place, in some instances, in an open cubicle, and we didn't feel that that's right or appropriate for clients to have to talk about personal financial matters in a very public setting," Wilbanks said.

A portion of the money was also spent on paint and new blinds. The old blinds had been in the building since the mid-70s and were in disrepair.

James Smith chairs the Board of Trustees and approved the upgrades.

"Yes, I feel comfortable that the bid that we had received and the work that was done was in line with what our expectations were," Smith said.

But Pat McGuigan with the blog CapitolBeatOK is questioning the timing of the expenditures. In a time when state agencies are being asked to cut back because of budget shortfalls, McGuigan said the renovations could have waited.

"I'm not sure how one with a straight face looks at colleagues at other agencies and says that that's a legitimate expense in a year like this," McGuigan said.

OTRS is a non-appropriated state agency, meaning it operates mostly off funds educators pay into the system. McGuigan said that makes the remodeling even more troubling.

"It is widely regarded including by the State Treasurer, Scott Meacham, as the third or fourth or second worst teacher retirement system, in terms of adequate funding in the whole country," McGuigan said.

But the office points out that in the last year in a half they have renegotiated investment contracts and made cuts that have saved nearly $3 million.