A recently released stimulus funding audit at the
Manhattan, Kansas Housing Authority reveals that the local agency overspent by
19.4% on an improperly issued change order for ductwork insulation asses to a
housing contract for renovation of unit HVAC and water heating equipment, and
overstated the jobs created by the project by 37.9% in reporting project data
to the federal recovery.gov website.
US HUD’s Inspector General audited the Housing
Authority’s use of nearly half a million dollars in federal Recovery Act grants
and found that the agency improperly issued a change order increasing the scope
of work to include duct insulation for an additional cost of $53,220.00 without
taking competitive bids, and giving an improperly documented change order to
the contractor already on the job for an price inflated by as much as $10,340.00
in undocumented overhead and fees as a result of the Housing Authority’s lack
of written procedures for processing contract change orders.
The audit also revealed that the agency reported its
project had created 37.9% more jobs than were actually produced by the half
million dollar expenditure. With this kind of inaccuracy from local governments
who were awarded stimulus grants designed to improve local area employment, it’s
no wonder our political leaders can’t agree on how to go about stimulating
further economic growth.
