NEW YORK CITY-A stringent audit of Port Authority practices will reportedly show years of fiscal mismanagement at the World Trade Center site that led to a recent fare and toll increase. Sources told the New York Post reported that outgoing Port Authority executive director Christopher O. Ward authorized “hundreds of millions” of unnecessary spending at the 16-acre redevelopment site to accelerate the building of the zone.

The audit, which will be made public within several weeks, was ordered by governors Andrew M. Cuomo and Chris Christie after the Port Authority board voted to implement the fare and toll increases on local bridges and tunnels in August. In a joint letter to the Port Authority, Cuomo and Christie expressed that they “did not want to see any toll increase,” but “given the crisis” facing the port and its finances, and the potential safety and economic risks to commuters and businesses,” the increase could not be avoided, they said.

The source tells the Post that the economic impact of the cost overruns will be “terrible for New York for decades,” while another source said Ward was more concerned about Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s reconstruction timetable at the site.