We audited the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Public Housing Capital Fund grants as part of our objective to review funds provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. We selected the Authority because it is a newly formed entity, created January 1, 2010, and the Authority and the entities that formed it received more than $21 million in Recovery Act Capital Fund grants. The objective of our review was to determine whether the Authority administered its Recovery Act funds in accordance with Recovery Act and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations.

The Authority generally complied with HUD procurement policies for its Recovery Act Capital Fund grants. However, it did not always ensure that its contractors complied with the Davis-Bacon Act and Federal labor standards. The Authority did not (1) ensure that proper wage rates were paid, (2) ensure that additional wage classifications and rates were requested and received from the U.S. Department of Labor, or (3) investigate complaints received by contractor employees. Further, the Authority did not always ensure that it complied with Recovery Act reporting requirements. Specifically, it did not accurately report in FederalReporting.gov the number of jobs created and retained. This condition occurred because the Authority did not effectively monitor its contractors in the enforcement of Federal labor standards and lacked written policies and procedures for Recovery Act reporting. As a result, the Authority’s contractors did not always comply with the Davis-Bacon Act and underpaid employees more than $7,300. Also, the Authority’s use of Recovery Act funds was not always transparent, and the public did not always have access to accurate information about the Authority’s use of the Recovery Act grants.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s San Francisco Office of Public Housing require the Authority to obtain documentation to support that contractors and subcontractors made corrective payments for improper wages cited, update its policies and procedures related to Davis-Bacon compliance, and establish policies and procedures to ensure accurate and complete reporting to HUD and other Federal agencies.