Throwing Good Money After Bad?
Yesterday’s USA Today reported, “The federal government will soon send more than $300 million in stimulus funds to 61 housing agencies that have been repeatedly faulted by auditors for mishandling government aid, a USA TODAY review has found.” The list features three in Virginia, including the “stimulus grant” amount:
- Alexandria Redevelopment & Housing Authority -- $1,791,960
- Petersburg Redevelopment & Housing Authority -- $1,071,310
- Newport News Redevelopment & Housig (sic) Authority -- $4,858,857
USA Today went on to point out:
“The money is part of a $4 billion effort to create jobs by fixing public housing projects that have fallen into disrepair. Recipients include housing authorities in 26 states that auditors have cited for problems ranging from poor bookkeeping to money that was spent improperly, according to the review of summaries the agencies must file with the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
“The government has promised to closely monitor how the agencies spend the money. Still, some watchdog groups are concerned. "I think taxpayers are going to have to steel themselves to hear that a lot of this money has gone down the tubes," says Leslie Paige of Citizens Against Government Waste.”
"Congress gave the Obama administration permission to withhold stimulus aid from housing authorities that the Department of Housing and Urban Development lists as "troubled" because of factors such as poor maintenance and financial management. But HUD decided to release the money to these authorities because they "should have the opportunity to improve their housing," spokeswoman Donna White said."
The newspaper pointed out there are some 175 housing authorities on HUD’s troubled list. Kudos to USA Today for the their work in developing this story, which they described as:
“USA TODAY reviewed OMB data summarizing thousands of audits completed since 2004 with help from Boston College business professor Elizabeth Keating, who studies audits. The review identified authorities receiving stimulus aid despite having been cited at least three times for problems managing federal money.”
Seems HUD's position is that it's better to plunder taxpayers than force housing authorities to better manage the resources taxpayers provide to them. Finally,before Arlington County’s own Industrial Development Authority obtained permission to provide funding for affordable housing, Arlington County officials went to the Alexandria Redevelopment & Housing Authority.
HT Taxing Tennessean and Government Bytes. As Demian Brady of NTU quipped at NTU's Government Bytes, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."