News-Record.com

The state auditor's office put out a report today claiming the state paid $294,413 too much for office supplies to Office Depot during a six month period.

News release: claiming the state paid $294,413 too much for office supplies to Office Depot during a six month period.

Audit: claiming the state paid $294,413 too much for office supplies to Office Depot during a six month period.

Worth noting: this is not the first time the Auditor has found issues with Office Depot. More: here.

You might remember that the decision to give the office supply contract to Office Depot in the first place ticked off a lot of local sellers, who said that the large national company could undercut their prices but would be unresponsive when problems arose.

Click here for a copy of that story.

Update: From the Department of Administration:

RALEIGH – Administration Secretary Britt Cobb today directed the Division of Purchase & Contract (P&C) to develop an action plan to address deficiencies identified in a report by the State Auditor regarding the state office supplies contract with Office Depot.

"We are determined to develop more effective ways of managing this and all state contracts," Cobb said. "We are committed to providing goods vital to the function of state business in the most accountable and cost efficient manner."

Cobb said that P&C first notified Office Depot in March 2008 demanding repayment of overcharges. P&C has continued to monitor and pursue recovery of overcharges from Office Depot.

"We have been consulting with the Attorney General’s Office to ensure that all overcharges have been accounted for and credited," Cobb said. "We also have asked that the State Bureau of Investigation to review claims in the report to determine whether a criminal investigation is warranted into the pricing practices of Office Depot."

You can read that here.