Several top executives at the private contractors who care for the District’s developmentally disabled are wayyyy overpaid, potentially costing taxpayers $6 million, according to the city’s inspector general.

An audit by Inspector General Charles Willoughby faulted the Department of Health Care Finance for not establishing “cost-containment controls such as compensation limits” that allowed Intermediate Care Facilities for People with Developmental Disabilities (ICFs/DD) with contracts with the city to skirt city and federal regulations.

For example, top execs at five providers made salaries ranging from $261,346 to $436,891 during 2008, while the industry standard, according to the IG, was between $130,000 to $180,000 a year.

“While the District must maintain a sufficient number of ICFs/DD to provide quality care to some of the District’s most vulnerable residents, paying excessive amounts to executives is not necessary,” the IG wrote.

DHCF said they have the authority to make sure that services are delivered to the needy, not to monitor executive pay.  The department also said the new rules and regs it implemented would also regulate executive pay.

The IG disagreed, saying the department does have the authority to regulate and its new rules and regulations won’t stop excessive pay. Several of the providers also weighed in, questioning the IG’s version of industry standard pay and saying there are “mitigating factors” to justify the high paychecks of the top brass.

The IG’s office says it’s standing by its report.