Christine Stuart reports in CT News Junkie that "The state auditors released their finding on the acquisition of the land owned by Aetna for the New Britain-Hartford Busway. The bottom line: the purchase of the land was done properly. The report stated that there was "no misuse of taxpayer dollars," and disputes the claims that the Department of Transportation overpaid for the land. Not the news the Republicans were hoping to receive when they requested a review of the land purchase for the busway. 

The Auditors' Report states that:

"...[T]he amount DOT paid was in accordance with the Federal regulations governing property acquisitions that are made using Federal funds. The amounts paid were supported by appraisals prepared by independent appraisers that DOT hired. The appraisers were hired to determine the fair market value based on the amount of damages that Aetna would suffer from the taking of the properties. That should not be confused with estimating the fair market value when there is a willing seller and a willing buyer, which in this case would most likely have been considerably less. DOT reviewed the appraisals and made its initial offers to Aetna, totaling $5,630,000, as required by the Federal regulations. Aetna refused the initialoffers, but subsequently ended up accepting them."
Read the Auditors' full report here.