By KERRY DREW PIX11.com / @kerrydrew

9:53 a.m. EST, February 8, 2012
NEW YORK (WPIX)—
The Port Authority is a "challenged and dysfunctional organization" that needs a "top-to-bottom overhaul," according to a new audit.

The audit said the Port Authority is "suffering from a lack of consistent leadership," among other problems.

The Port Authority owns the World Trade Center site, where construction is currently underway. Costs of rebuilding the site have skyrocketed from $11 billion in 2008 to nearly $15 billion, which is an increase of 35 percent in four years.

The agency said it is already working on ways to bring costs under control.

On Tuesday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who both oversee the agency, released a joint statement that said: "This record of historic failure must be reversed...Steps have already been taken in the last two years, but much more must be done."

The governors ordered the review after the Port Authority voted to raise bridge and tunnel tolls in August.