As a spinoff of a prior assignment and as part of our annual audit plan, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited the Lafayette Parish Housing Authority’s (Authority) Public Housing Capital Fund Stimulus Recovery Act funded grant. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority followed HUD and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 requirements. Specifically, we wanted to determine whether the Authority (1) properly obligated and expended its Recovery Act capital funds, (2) accurately reported its Recovery Act activities, and (3) followed Recovery Act requirements when procuring contracts for goods or services.

The Authority generally followed Recovery Act requirements when obligating and expending its Public Housing Capital Fund Stimulus Recovery Act funded grant. However, it did not always (1) enter its Recovery Act activities into the Recovery Act Management and Performance System (RAMPS), (2) report its Recovery Act activities by specified deadlines in neither RAMPS nor federalreporting.gov, or (3) enter accurate Recovery Act expenditure information into federalreporting.gov, as required. In addition, the Authority could not justify its reported estimates of jobs created or retained. These conditions occurred because the Authority did not have (1) adequate or experienced staff to perform the reporting function after its deputy director resigned or (2) adequate record-keeping practices. As a result, the Authority provided minimal transparency of and accountability for its Recovery Act activities.

The Authority generally procured its Recovery Act contract in accordance with Federal regulations. However, it did not (1) amend and label its written procurement policy for use with only Recovery Act grant procurements, as required, or (2) include HUD-required provisions in its Recovery Act-funded contract. These conditions occurred because the Authority ignored HUD’s recommendations to correct the procurement policy and did not have adequately trained staff. As a result, it was at risk, during the Recovery Act funding period, of exposure to disputes over contract selections. Further, by not having the proper contract provisions, the Authority may not have been able to enforce those regulatory provisions with its contractors.

We recommend that HUD’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Field Operations require the Authority to (1) correct inaccurate Recovery Act expenditure amounts reported in federalreporting.gov for the second and fourth quarters of 2010 and (2) provide justification for its estimates of jobs created or retained in federalreporting.gov for the second, third, and fourth quarters of 2010 and the first quarter of 2011. Since the Authority had completed its Recovery Act program, we did not provide a recommendation regarding the procurement violation.