We completed an audit of the City of New York, NY (City), pertaining to its administration of its Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Our audit objectives were to determine whether City officials (1) disbursed HPRP funds efficiently and effectively in accordance with HUD and other applicable requirements; (2) had a financial management system in place to adequately safeguard the funds; and (3) adequately monitored their subgrantees to ensure compliance with Recovery Act requirements, HPRP guidelines, and other applicable HUD regulations.
City officials did not always follow applicable HUD regulations in administering the City’s HPRP. Specifically, they (1) disbursed HPRP funds for questionable rental assistance payments and salary expenditures, and (2) did not adequately monitor subgrantees. As a result, program funds were used for ineligible rental assistance and unsupported administrative salaries. Consequently, City officials could not assure HUD that all HPRP disbursements complied with HUD rules and regulations.
We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New York City Office of Community Planning and Development instruct City officials to (1) reimburse from non-Federal funds $93,436 for ineligible costs pertaining to questionable rental assistance, (2) provide documentation to justify $329,937 in unsupported salary expenses, and (3) strengthen subgrantee monitoring procedures to ensure that all policies and procedures are implemented, thus complying with HPRP requirements.
Recommendations
Community Planning and Development
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Status2012-NY-1002-001-AOpenClosed$93,436.00Questioned Costs
Recommendations with questioned costs identify costs: (A) resulting from an alleged violation of a law, regulation, contract, grant, or other document or agreement governing the use of Federal funds; (B) that are not supported by adequate documentation (also known as an unsupported cost); or (C) that appear unnecessary or unreasonable.
We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New York City Office of Community Planning and Development instruct City officials to reimburse from non-Federal funds $93,436 for ineligible costs charged to HPRP; specifically, $59,430 related to payments for rental arrears over the 6-month eligibility requirement and $34,006 for payments issued directly to participants.
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Status2012-NY-1002-001-BOpenClosed$329,937.00Questioned Costs
Recommendations with questioned costs identify costs: (A) resulting from an alleged violation of a law, regulation, contract, grant, or other document or agreement governing the use of Federal funds; (B) that are not supported by adequate documentation (also known as an unsupported cost); or (C) that appear unnecessary or unreasonable.
We recommend that the Director of HUD’s New York City Office of Community Planning and Development instruct City officials to provide documentation to justify the $329,937 in unsupported salary costs incurred between June and September 2010. Any unsupported costs determined to be ineligible should be reimbursed from non-Federal funds.