HARRISBURG — A program to help people with intellectual disabilities has paid for luxury cars and parking lot repaving, a Pennsylvania Public Welfare official told lawmakers Wednesday as he listed several examples of what he described as waste and excess.

Executive deputy secretary Tim Costa told a state Senate committee that the Office of Developmental Programs has also funded a patio, pool fencing, carpeting, a bowling alley and flea dipping for a cat.

He said the office’s financial condition is worse that officials thought, it sometimes subsidizes empty beds, and its mortgage reimbursement practices are structured so that the government can pay repeatedly for the same property. He blamed “an exception-driven culture,” poor financial oversight and changes brought in recent years during a transition from a county-based system to a centralized state approach.

“Without strong fiscal controls, it is not surprising that waste and excess crept into the system, arguably as a result of some providers taking advantage of the generous reimbursement policies and limitations on fiscal governance put in place by ODP and the Department of Public Welfare,” Costa said.

Sen. Pat Vance, R-Cumberland, chair of the Public Health and Welfare Committee, said in an interview after the hearing it was unclear whether any crimes have occurred, but she intends to examine department audits to get a better grasp on the facts. Vance said she was considering more hearings.

“After I see the audits I’ll make that determination,” Vance said. “It appears to be the feeling of the legal minds we can’t go back retrospectively unless it was actually forbidden. I’m not sure I agree with that.”

The Office of Developmental Programs instituted a “prospective payment system” two years ago to resolve a dispute with the federal government over variations in the level of payments from county to county in Pennsylvania.

“Revenue reconciliation” put in place to smooth that transition by protecting providers against sudden drops in their state payments cost $41 million in fiscal year 2009-10 and $189 million last year, Costa said.

He said the new system was “set up with few rules and no regulations that offered caregivers clear service definitions and other direction to ensure fair, efficient and effective business practices.”

The office’s budget has increased $664 million, or 60 percent, since 2005, but it only serves 27 percent more people.