We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark Office of Public Housing provide technical assistance to the Authority to help ensure that 1) future interagency agreements, including the renewal of its agreement with Long Branch clearly outline the expectations and documentation required to show that work was performed, (2) its board provides adequate oversight of work performed under interagency agreements, and 3) it complies with HUD, Federal, and Authority procurement requirements when purchasing goods and services.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark Office of Public Housing require the Authority to provide documentation to show that $36,508 disbursed1 was for authorized and approved costs or reimburse its Operating and Capital Fund programs from non-Federal funds for any amount that it cannot support.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark Office of Public Housing require the Authority to provide documentation to show that $172,538 paid for goods and services was reasonable or reimburse its Operating and Capital Fund programs from non-Federal funds for any amount that it cannot support or that is not considered reasonable.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark Office of Public Housing require the Authority to provide documentation to show that the $161,600 paid for legal, fee accounting, and auditing services was for prices that were reasonable and that the costs were properly allocated among the Authority’s programs or reimburse its Operating and Capital Fund programs from non-Federal funds for any amount that it cannot support or is not considered reasonable

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark Office of Public Housing require the Authority to update its policies and procedures to ensure that any additional payments made under interagency agreements are adequately supported before payment is made and that the services are provided in accordance with applicable requirements. These requirements include but are not limited to HUD, Federal, and Authority requirements related to procurement, allocation of costs, and review and approval of payments.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark Office of Public Housing require the Authority to provide documentation to show that the $252,000 paid to the Long Branch Housing Authority was for eligible, reasonable, necessary, and allocable costs or reimburse its Operating and Capital Fund programs from non-Federal funds for any amount that it cannot support or that is not considered reasonable.

Develop and implement controls to ensure that program funds are used for eligible activities only.

Develop and implement controls over its procurement actions to ensure that prices paid for goods and services are reasonable.

Reimburse its program $170,784 from non-Federal funds for the ineligible salary payments and ongoing security payments.

Provide documentation to show that products and services totaling $171,822 were purchased at fair and reasonable prices. For any amounts determined to be unreasonable and not supported, the Authority should reimburse the program from non-Federal funds.