Northumberland County will be hearing from the state "shortly" about possible payback of as much as $185,000 in grant money for a homelessness prevention program.
The Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), however, shouldn't expect payment, county Commissioner Chairman Vinny Clausi said Friday.
"We're not paying nothing until the federal government tells us what we did wrong," he said.
Earlier this year, DCED said the county must repay as much as $215,000 because it failed to properly administer the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing (HPRP) grant, which totaled $365,361. The county worked with DCED to acquire additional information about client eligibility, but Clausi, claiming DCED did not adequately instruct the county, consulted with U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta about the problem. The county was granted an extension on the payback.
DCED, contacted this week about the status, offered comment through an e-mail from Edward Jordan, press aide.
He wrote: "DCED has reviewed the additional information provided by the county and will be issuing a final letter shortly."
In the meantime, Clausi said the county sent a letter several weeks ago to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which provided the grant to DCED, asking for an investigation and audit of the county's handling of the grant to find out what it did wrong. There's been no response from HUD, he said.
Commissioners at their April 10 meeting voted 2-1 vote on a motion to ask the Inspector General's Office at HUD to conduct an investigation. Clausi was joined by Stephen Bridy in OK'ing the motion while Rick Shoch voted against it.
The grant, which was part of the federal stimulus package, is among those that caused problems nationwide, Clausi said he's been told by federal officials. He said DCED has acknowledged that it was confused about administration of the program, although the agency has provided documentation showing numerous in-person and phone call training sessions with county officials for the HPRP grant.
Can't 'thumb our nose'
Shoch said Friday he communicated with DCED a few weeks ago and was told the payback will be in the neighborhood of $185,000. But that is unofficial, he said.
"There was a large percentage (of claims) still not fixed," he said about DCED's review of new county information.
He said expecting HUD to get involved isn't practical, whether it was fraud or merely mistakes by the county.
"That won't absolve us," Shoch said.
He said the county shouldn't simply "thumb its nose" at contractual obligations.
"If the county doesn't pay up, you should expect that DCED will red flag us and we won't be getting any further grants from DCED until such time as it's paid," he said.