Waste Of The Day: $140 For Taxi Ride Across Parking Lot

Authored by Jeremy Portnoy via RealClearInvestigations,

Topline: Massachusetts’ Emergency Assistance Family Shelter Program recently funded what might just be history’s most expensive car trip: $140 for a taxi ride of 223 feet. For those quick with a calculator, that’s a rate of $3,314 per mile.

It’s just one example of taxpayer funds spent on “improper and unlawful emergency procurements” while the agency was using $325 million in state funds last year to help address the state’s migrant crisis, according to a recent report from the state auditor.

Key facts: The emergency housing program was originally created to carry out Massachusetts’ “right to shelter” law from 1983, which guarantees housing for families with children or pregnant mothers. 

The program has been overwhelmed with immigrant families in the last few years. There were 3,883 families in shelters in January 2023 but 7,463 families by December 2024. 

The influx forced the state to sign emergency, no-bid contracts with companies that were charging up to $31 per meal to feed migrants on the taxpayers’ dime. One company, Spinelli Ravioli, billed the state 9.6% more than their contract allowed for 493 food deliveries, according to the new audit.

The state also hired Mercedes Cab Company to transport migrants at a price that was comparable to “executive car services,” the audit found. Inexplicably, the state paid $140 for a car ride that drove 223 feet from one side of the parking lot to the other.

Another ride cost $4,561 for 55 passengers to travel 7.6 miles roundtrip from a hotel to a doctor’s office. Auditors found a nearby bus company that could have done the trip for less than $200 per hour.

The state spent $351,690 on 2,816 trips where homeless riders cancelled or didn’t show up. It happened so often that it “appears excessive,” auditors wrote.

Extra riders in the taxi are supposed to cost $40 each, but Mercedes Cab Company twice billed $80 each. Auditors claimed that “There was no evidence that [the state] reviewed these invoices for accuracy before making payment.”

In total, Mercedes Cab Company received $4.7 million for almost 16,000 trips at a rate of $155 per trip or $10.01 per mile, auditors found.

Critical quote: Gov. Maura Healey’s administration blamed the issues on an “unprecedented surge in families due to failed immigration policies” and claimed the previous administration did not equip the shelters for success.

State auditor Diana DiZoglio disagreed in an interview with WBZ News. She claimed that Healey’s administration knew the shelters would be overwhelmed but “waited January, February, March, April, May, June, July, and then only in August decided to consider these options for food and transportation.”

Background: Ed Augustus, Massachusetts’ Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities, earned a salary of $191,485 in 2024, according to OpenTheBooks.com.

Summary: Some of the expenses in Massachusetts’ shelter program would be excessive even for a king, let alone those in emergency housing.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com