Mich. computer system said late and buggy

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DETROIT, July 20 (UPI) -- A $50 million computer system for the Michigan Secretary of State's office has problems and still isn't finished after more than a decade, a state audit found.

The state Department of Technology, Management and Budget has been overseeing the Business Application Modernization project intended to update how the state delivers services such as vehicle titles, driver's licenses and voter registration, The Detroit News reported Friday.

Just one part of the system, for online renewal of driver's licenses and vehicle registration, has been put into operation and still lacks some promised features, an assessment by Michigan Auditor General Thomas McTavish found.

Officials from the Technology, Management and Budget and the Secretary of State's offices said they agree with the findings and are taking steps to fix the problems.

"The BAM project is not an example of how major IT projects should work," Kurt Weiss, spokesman for the technology department, said.

Michigan has so far paid $34.3 million to the contractor, Hewlett-Packard Co., and another $15 million for state employees working on the project, the News reported.