North Carolina spent up to $226 million in unnecessary costs after launching ill-fated mental health reforms in 2006.

The legislature's Program Evaluation Division released a report today saying that the Enhanced Services Package portion of mental health reform that the legislature put in place cost $2.4 billion between April 2006 and Febuary 2009. Most of that was federal money, but the state paid $827 million.

The Program Evaluation Division reported that advanced planning and oversight could have saved at least $177 million and as much as $226 million. Division staff are scheduled to present their findings to the division's oversight committee at 2 p.m. in room 544 of the Legislative Office Building.

Read more after the jump.

   Comments (1)

Rep. Joe Sam Queen
Waynesville Democrat
Third Term

What two things would you cut in the state budget? 1) He suggested cutting the Program Evaluation Division, a new entity within legislative services that evaluates state services. One of its reports had suggested cuts in agricultural research stations in Western North Carolina, an idea that Queen disagreed with.

"(The Program Evaluation Division) has about 10 staffers and that's one I could lop right off. I've found it to be already tainted."

2) ABC bonuses to teachers. "We need to revamp our ABC bonus program to focus on our high performing teachers." He said the way the program is structured, low performing teachers in highly rated schools are getting bonuses, while high performing teachers in low-rated schools are not.

Are there any taxes you would be in favor of increasing? "I would be in favor of increasing our cigarette tax to the national average. Cigarettes are the No. 1 cause of rising health care costs." He said the revenues should in part go toward spending that ultimately saves money, such as preventive health care programs and improved probation services that would keep more people out of prison.

— Dan Kane