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The state auditor's office found "gross mismanagement" at a company that provided rural transportation services for the N.C. Department of Transportation and wants it investigated by authorities.

The Cary company 2Plus worked for years without a contract, overcharged the state, and took poor care of DOT-owned vehicles, according to auditors.

The DOT employee who managed the contract, former Public Transportation Division Director Miriam S. Perry, retired last year.

Noting that the contract with 2Plus was the only one Perry personally managed and that the company employed a former DOT worker, auditors said they were sending the report to the State Bureau of Investigation. Calls to Perry and 2Plus were not returned.

Paul F. Morris said he moved to end the state's association with 2Plus when he started work last fall as the department's deputy secretary for transit.

"We ceased operation of the program, we cooperated with the state auditor's office to identify any deficiencies, and we've since been working diligently to implement every action we can to ensure it doesn't happen again," he said. The company stopped operating the program Nov. 30.

According to the audit, 2Plus received $4.3 million in state and federal money over 11 years to operate the van pool.

In those years, the company worked without a contract for the equivalent of about six years, billed the department for $163,272 in various charges that appear "excessive and unreasonable," and didn't properly maintain the DOT-owned vans, according to the audit. One van went 45,000 miles before it got its first oil change, the audit said.

According to the audit, counties, not the state, usually manage rural van pool programs aimed at getting people in rural areas where there is no bus service to jobs. The report said 2Plus was the only van pool operator paid directly through the state transportation department.

Perry faced no discipline, Morris said, because she retired soon after the department learned of the audit and the scope of the problems. When asked, Perry was forthcoming about the situation, he said.

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Auditors: Investigate transport firm that worked for DOT