JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- In search of a better public image, the state transportation department is touting its accountability in an annual report prepared for state lawmakers.

The report released Friday says the Missouri Department of Transportation completed 206 projects last fiscal year at a total cost of $594 million -- about 1 percent less than had been estimated.

That's just one fact in a promotional summary the department entitled: "MoDOT Accountability: A Success Story."

Also included as a success is the fact that the department has 666 highway and bridge projects in the works at a cost of $3.5 billion -- about 2 percent more than originally projected.

Furthermore, the report touts a top rating from an independent auditor, 18 awards given to the department and its staff and $19 million in savings through efficiencies, innovations and staff reductions.

The Legislature's Joint Committee on Transportation Oversight is to meet Nov. 20 to review the report with transportation department officials. The annual report is required under a 1998 state law intended to add accountability to the constitutionally independent department.

Last year, department officials also stressed their ability to stay within budget, telling lawmakers that projects completed during the 2001 fiscal year had cost 1.4 percent less than expected.

Since then, lawmakers referred a roughly $500 million transportation tax increase to the ballot, which voters defeated by a nearly 3-to-1 margin in August.

Department director Henry Hungerbeeler took the defeat as a sign that voters lacked trust in the department.

So did transportation commissioners. And so did Gov. Bob Holden, who appoints commissioners but has no direct oversight of the department.

Since the election, the transportation department has stepped up its efforts to highlight what it considers successes. The report to lawmakers follows that approach.

"This year's report has hundreds of pages showing where all our money comes from and where it's spent, all of our projects and what they cost, as well as our future project plans and cost estimates," Hungerbeeler said in a news release. "We've gone to great lengths to explain all our operations to legislators, as well as anyone else who'd like to learn more about how their taxpayer dollars are used."

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On the Net

Transportation department: www.modot.state.mo.us