U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government Here’s how you know

The .gov means it’s official.

Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

The site is secure.

The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Hotline

Report Fraud, Waste and Abuse
September 27, 2018
  • Community Planning and Development
2018-CH-1008
2018-CH-1008.pdf

We audited Hamilton County’s subrecipient agreement with People Working Cooperatively, Inc. (corporation), for a Community Development Block Grant-funded housing repair services program based on a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Columbus Office of Community Planning and Development concerning information the Office received regarding the program, which it did not have the resources to review.  The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2018 annual audit plan.  Our objective was to determine whether the County and corporation complied with HUD’s requirements in the use of Block Grant funds for the program.

The County and corporation did not always comply with HUD’s requirements in the use of Block Grant funds for the program.  Specifically, the County did not ensure that (1) it required the corporation to submit source documentation before providing it with Block Grant funds for housing repair services, (2) it provided the corporation Block Grant funds for eligible program expenses, (3) two households were eligible for assistance under the program, (4) it properly documented compliance with HUD’s environmental review procedures, (5) the corporation notified the County before completing a third emergency repair job for households within a grant year, (6) a member of a household associated with an accessibility modification was disabled, and (7) the corporation reduced all of the program income it received from its invoices for housing repair services.  As a result, more than $10,000 in Block Grant funds was not available for eligible expenses of the program, and HUD and the County lacked assurance that nearly $13,000 in Block Grant funds was used in accordance with HUD’s requirements.
We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Columbus Office of Community Planning and Development require the County to (1) reimburse its Block Grant program from non-Federal funds for inappropriate expenses, (2) support or reimburse its Block Grant program from non-Federal funds for expenses for which the corporation lacked sufficient documentation to support, and (3) implement adequate procedures and controls to address the weaknesses cited in this audit report.
 

Recommendations
Recommendation Status Date Issued Summary
2018-CH-1008-001-A Closed September 27, 2018 Implement adequate procedures and controls to ensure that it obtains and reviews source documentation, such as invoices and time sheets, to support that expenses are eligible before providing Block Grant funds to the corporation for housing repair services.
2018-CH-1008-001-B Closed September 27, 2018 Reimburse its Block Grant program from non-Federal funds for the $5,810 it provided to the corporation for labor that exceeded actual labor costs (more than $4,800) and indirect costs associated with the excessive labor costs (nearly $1,000).
2018-CH-1008-001-C Closed September 27, 2018 Review the labor costs associated with the remaining 1,645 (1,668 - 23 reviewed) jobs that we did not review to determine whether the Block Grant funds it provided the corporation for labor exceeded the actual labor costs for each job. If the labor exceeded the actual labor cost for a job, the County should reimburse its Block Grant program from non-Federal funds for the excessive labor costs and the indirect costs associated with the excessive labor costs that the County provided to the corporation.
2018-CH-1008-001-D Closed September 27, 2018 Implement adequate procedures and controls to ensure that it does not provide the corporation Block Grant funds for excessive labor costs.
2018-CH-1008-001-E Closed September 27, 2018 Implement adequate procedures and controls to ensure that sufficient documentation is maintained to support that the cost of materials and services acquired for the program is reasonable.
2018-CH-1008-001-F Closed September 27, 2018 Reimburse its Block Grant program from non-Federal funds for the $182 it provided to the corporation for a 4 percent surcharge that was inappropriately included on all materials.
2018-CH-1008-001-G Closed September 27, 2018 Support or reimburse its Block Grant program from non-Federal funds for the $6,140 it provided to the corporation for indirect costs for which the corporation lacked sufficient documentation to support whether the indirect costs included lobbying-related expenses.
2018-CH-1008-001-H Closed September 27, 2018 Support or reimburse its Block Grant program from non-Federal funds for the $1,541 it provided to the corporation for jobs for which the corporation lacked sufficient income documentation to support that the households were eligible for assistance.
2018-CH-1008-001-I Closed September 27, 2018 Implement adequate procedures and controls to ensure that sufficient income documentation is maintained to ensure that households are eligible for assistance under the program and income is verified in accordance with HUD’s requirements and the subrecipient agreement.
2018-CH-1008-001-J Closed September 27, 2018 Implement adequate procedures and controls to ensure that it properly documents compliance with HUD’s environmental review procedures before the start of each job.
2018-CH-1008-001-K Closed September 27, 2018 Implement adequate procedures and controls to ensure that third emergency repairs are documented in writing and reported to the County before completion of assistance in accordance with the subrecipient agreement.
2018-CH-1008-001-L Closed September 27, 2018 Support or reimburse its Block Grant program from non-Federal funds for the $4,953 it provided to the corporation for one job for which the corporation lacked sufficient documentation to support that a member of the household was physically disabled.
2018-CH-1008-001-M Closed September 27, 2018 Implement adequate procedures and controls to ensure that sufficient documentation is maintained to support that accessibility modifications are provided only to households with at least one member who is physically disabled.
2018-CH-1008-001-N Closed September 27, 2018 Reimburse its Block Grant program from non-Federal funds for the $4,127 it inappropriately provided to the corporation due to not ensuring that the corporation reduced all of its program income from its invoices for housing repair services.
2018-CH-1008-001-O Closed September 27, 2018 Support or reimburse its Block Grant program from non-Federal funds for the $107 it provided to the corporation for the January 2016 invoice that the corporation generally could not explain.
2018-CH-1008-001-P Closed September 27, 2018 Implement adequate procedures and controls to ensure that the corporation reduces program income from its invoices for housing repair services.