We audited the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ (State) Small Cities Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program because the State was the largest recipient of CDBG funds in New England.  HUD awarded the State more than $88 million in CDBG funding for program years 2015, 2016, and 2017.  In addition, we had not audited any of the State’s community planning and development programs in the last 10 years.  Our audit objective was…

We audited the City of Erie, PA’s Community Development Block Grant program because we received a complaint regarding its code enforcement program and we had not audited the City’s program since 1997.  The complaint alleged that the City targeted low- to middle-income residents in certain neighborhoods requiring expensive repairs to their homes and properties, which could result in legal actions and liens if the homeowners did not make…

We audited the City of Pittsburgh, PA’s administration of its Community Development Block Grant program.  We conducted the audit because the City’s program had the second largest number of completed activities without accomplishment information reported nationwide.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the City administered its Block Grant program in accordance with applicable U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (…

We audited the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) assistance grant provided to the City of Springfield, MA, by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist in disaster recovery and rebuilding efforts resulting from damages caused by presidentially declared disasters.  The audit objective was to determine whether the City properly followed Federal procurement requirements and whether…

We audited the County of Beaver, Beaver Falls, PA’s administration of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) HOME Investment Partnerships Program funds.  We audited the County because we received a complaint alleging misuse of Federal funds resulting from a potential conflict of interest involving a County employee.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the County administered its HOME program in…

We audited the County of Northumberland, PA’s Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program grant because the chairman of the Northumberland County board of commissioners requested that we audit the program.  Our objective was to determine whether the County administered its program grant in accordance with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act requirements. The County did not administer its program according to Recovery Act…

We audited the City of Worcester’s administration of its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.  We selected the City for review based on a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Boston, MA, Office of Community Planning and Development.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the City established adequate controls to ensure that the CDBG activities were eligible and supported…

We audited Luzerne County, PA’s $6 million loan of Community Development Block Grant funds to CityVest that was expected to be used to revitalize the historic Hotel Sterling and surrounding properties. We did the audit because HUD Office of Inspector General audit report 2012-PH-0001 identified this long standing open Block Grant activity and because we received a citizen complaint alleging possible misappropriation of these funds. Our…

We audited the City of Philadelphia, PA’s administration of its Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 grant that it received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 as part of our fiscal year 2012 audit plan. Our objective was to determine whether the grantee administered the grant in accordance with Recovery Act and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements. We found that the grantee generally…

We audited Luzerne County, PA's administration of its Community Development Block Grant funds that it received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. We selected the County for an audit because we received a complaint alleging that the County may have misappropriated Block Grant funds and because of our mandate to audit Recovery Act activities. Our audit objective was to determine whether the County obligated, expended…

We reviewed the administration expenses charged to the City of Brockton’s Community Development Block Grant in response to a complaint alleging that the City was charging the Community Development Block Grant program for City expenses. The objectives of our review were to determine whether the City (1) properly accounted for and reported its planning and administrative expenses for its Community Development Block Grant and (2) prepared accurate…

We audited the City of Reading, PA’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 as part of our annual audit plan to review activities funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) because the City received $5 million in Program funds under the Recovery Act. Our audit objective was to determine whether the City (1) met Program expenditure deadlines, (2) made Program expenditures that were eligible and adequately supported…

We reviewed The Community Builders, a nonprofit development and asset management firm that received a $78.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Congress established the Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 to grant funds to States, local governments, nonprofits, and a consortium of nonprofit entities for the purpose of stabilizing communities…

We audited the City of Pittsburgh’s (City) administration of its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds that it received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). We selected the City for audit because it received a $4.5 million grant, which was the third largest CDBG Recovery Act grant awarded in the State of Pennsylvania and it had disbursed more than half of the grant funds as of July 12, 2010. Our…

We audited the City of Scranton, PA’s (City) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. We selected the City for audit because of the size of its program, its high U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) risk analysis score, and a citizen’s complaint alleging misuse of HUD funds. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the City (1) maintained records and documentation to identify the source and application…

We audited the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (Agency) because it received $95.1 million in Tax Credit Assistance Program (Program) funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). The Agency received the largest amount of Program funds awarded in Region III. Our objective was to determine whether the Agency administered its Program in accordance with Recovery Act and applicable U.S. Department of Housing and…

We reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Community Planning and Development’s (CPD) risk assessment process. We initiated the review as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2010 annual audit plan. Our objective was to determine whether CPD had established and properly implemented a risk assessment process that used appropriate measures to determine risk and identify grantees for monitoring. We found…

We audited the City of Altoona, Pennsylvania’s (City), Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program based on a citizen complaint. Our audit objective was to determine if the City properly paid a subrecipient for eligible CDBG activities. We found that the City paid a subrecipient $914,335 for CDBG activities that it could not demonstrate were eligible. The City could not demonstrate that it paid a subreicipient for eligible activities that…

We conducted a capacity review of the operations of the City of Brockton’s (City) grantee, Building a Better Brockton, Inc. (recipient), which has responsibility for administering the City’s NSP. Our objective was to determine whether the City and/or its recipient had the capacity to effectively and efficiently administer its NSP under the provisions of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) and the American Recovery and…

We performed an audit of the City of Boston’s (City) Department of Neighborhood Development (Department). We selected the City based upon the results of our previous audit of the City’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and the significance of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds awarded. Our objective was to determine whether the City had the capacity to effectively and efficiently administer its NSP under the provisions…