Photo courtesy of BlueIndy.

Photo courtesy of BlueIndy.

Marion County Auditor Julie Voorhies is suing the city of Indianapolis over its contract with BlueIndy, saying the city illegally paid $6 million to the electric carsharing company, according to a report by the Indianapolis Business Journal.

Filed in the Marion County Circuit Court, the complaint requests for a temporary ban on any future construction on city-owned land, says the report.

"Taxpayers deserve better and so do the union workers whose jobs the auditor is threatening," Jen Pittman, Mayor Greg Ballard’s spokeswomen, told the Indianapolis Business Journal. "Processing payments to vendors, ensuring payroll accuracy, and withholding the correct amount from employees’ paychecks are all legitimate, important functions of the auditor’s office, and all have suffered while the auditor has focused instead on playing political games."

In the suit, Voorhies also requests a return of a $6 million wire transfer from the city to Regions Financial Corp. for deposit in a BlueIndy escrow account, according to the report.

“Not only did the city fail to publicly bid the $6 million BlueIndy construction project, but the city also failed to obtain the necessary budget appropriations from the City-County Council and circumvented the approval of the Marion County auditor in issuing payment to BlueIndy,” according to a press release from the auditor’s office.

Launched in early September, BlueIndy is the Bollore Group’s first electric carsharing program in the United States. BlueIndy hopes to eventually open 250 carsharing sites throughout the city of Indianapolis.

Click here for the full Indianapolis Business Journal.

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