TULALIP – Federal officials have rejected three of eight expenditures the Tulalip Housing Authority sought reimbursement for this year, totaling $317,272.
The five other expenditures, which the Department of Housing and Urban Development approved, totaled $606,082, HUD spokeswoman Pamela Negri said Tuesday.
HUD officials began “editing” Tulalip Housing Authority expenditures in January after concerns about how the agency was spending federal low-income housing grants. Negri could not say what prompted the agency to deny the three expenditures, or how the approved expenditures were used.
The agency sent the Tulalips a letter last week announcing its intent to impose sanctions because of the tribe’s failure to resolve problems in managing federal money.
HUD “is extremely concerned that future federal funds administered by (the housing authority) are at risk of being mismanaged and wasted without benefit to the intended clients,” said Michael Liu, HUD assistant secretary.
The 11-page letter specifies that the action comes after repeated efforts by HUD to bring the housing authority into compliance with federal regulations. HUD issued written warnings in January 2003 and January this year to both the tribe’s housing authority and the previous tribal chairman.
The Tulalips are scheduled to meet with HUD officials Sept. 9, and could ask for a hearing before an administrative law judge.
In response to HUD’s letter, Tulalip directors fired the seven housing authority commissioners and disbanded the tribal agency. Tribal officials now are overseeing the housing authority’s duties, as well as investigating to determine how the authority came into conflict with the federal agency, tribal Chairman Stan Jones Sr. said. For now, construction on housing projects involving HUD money has been halted.
HUD hasn’t decided whether the problems will change the way the agency administers the grant program, Negri said.
“It’s really too early to tell. At this point, we sent a letter of intent. They have 30 days (to respond). Any actions we take would have to follow due process. These are not actions that we take lightly. We try to give the tribe every opportunity to correct the problem,” she said.
This year, the Tulalips planned to use the federal money to assist tribal members with down payments for six housing units, develop three other homes for tribal members on a rent-to-own basis, and create infrastructure for 45 new homes, Negri said.
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