As part of the Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) directive to determine whether safeguards exist to ensure that American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) funds are used for their intended purposes, we conducted a capacity review of the City San Antonio, TX (City) operations. Our objective was to determine whether the City had the capacity to account for Recovery Act funds and the controls to ensure that it expends those funds only for eligible program activities.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) San Antonio field office determined that there was some risk in the City’s programs funded through HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD). HUD’s risk analyses for fiscal year 2009 indicated high risk in the City’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, and medium risk in three other programs. Most of the risk in the City’s CDBG program was due to the high funding level (more than $10 million in fiscal year 2009). If not for the high funding level, the City’s CDBG program would have been medium risk, while the other three programs would have been medium to low risk.

We applied Office of Management and Budget’s accountability objectives when considering CPD’s significant risk factors. Based upon our limited review, the City appeared to have the capacity to adequately administer its Recovery Act funding. It had written policies and procedures, a staffing plan including adequate segregation of duties, and a plan for using Recovery Act funding. However, based on HUD’s risk assessment, the San Antonio, TX, CPD office should closely monitor the City’s spending of Recovery Act funds.