The Smithsonian’s Board of Regents considered undertaking a more rigorous audit of the financial practices of its former executives but decided the endeavor would be too expensive, one of its members said Wednesday. An independent committee also criticized the Smithsonian in a report Wednesday for, among other things, not using the same financial scrutiny on its executives as corporations must under legislation such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Roger Sant, chairman of the regents’ executive’s committee, said that as a former chief executive officer, he was aware the Smithsonian’s oversight was less than a typical corporation’s.

“It was going to cost in the order of millions of dollars to do that kind of auditing, and we really didn’t have the funds to do it,” said Sant, adding the board would do so now.

The Smithsonian is a nonprofit; 70 percent of its funding comes from taxpayers and the rest through fundraising.

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Committee Member A.W. “Pete” Smith Jr. said at a news conference Tuesday that one of the report’s most disturbing findings was that the Smithsonian ignored clues as early as 2001 hinting at former Secretary Lawrence Small’s transgressions, such as the use of a private plane for museum business.

“I wish I had a better answer, but we just didn’t see it,” Sant said. “We were aware of the circumstances ... but just said that it probably was a reasonable expense; in hindsight, it doesn’t look reasonable at all.”

Among the review’s findings were that Small took more than 10 weeks of vacation annually and brought in more than $5.7 million in outside earnings; Sheila P. Burke, Small’s deputy, had similar absences and outside earnings. Both have since resigned.

The committee did not find illegal actions by Small, but Charles Bowsher, a former U.S. comptroller general who chaired the committee, said an audit of Small’s and his wife’s spending could uncover expenses that should have been taxed.

The recommendations did not include any punitive measures against Burke or Small, or attempts to reclaim unauthorized expenses, Burke said. Sant confirmed the report’s claim that Small created an atmosphere in which the board answered to him rather than the reverse.

“He clearly managed the agenda; we discussed the things he felt we should have discussed,” Sant said.

Calls to the other 14 members of the board were not returned; representatives for Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., and Eli Broad said they were unavailable. Bowsher said congressional hearings investigating the board’s attempts to amend its governance issues likely would occur by next January.

melissa.frederick@dcexaminer.com