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U.S. DEPARTMENT

OF HOUSING

AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Fort Worth Regional Office, Region VI


Office of Community Planning and Development
801 Cherry Street, Unit #45, Ste. 2500
Fort Worth, TX 76102
www.hud.gov

NOV 10 2016

Robert Wilonsky
508 Young St.
Dallas, TX 75202
rwilonsky@dallasnews.com
Freedom of Information Act Request
No: 17-FI-R06-00192
Dear Mr. Wi10nsky:
This letter is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated
November 7,2016. In that request, you asked for a copy of the Oct. 28, 2016 letter sent by the
Fort Worth CPD Director to the City of Dallas, Housing and Community Services Department.
Your request is granted in full. Enclosed is-the following responsive document:
1.

October 28, 2016 letter for the City of Dallas regarding Housing Department Issues and
Craig Kinton's audit results.

For your information, your FOIA request, including your identity and the information
made available, is releasable to the public under subsequent FOIA requests. In responding to
these requests, the Department does not release personal privacy information such as home
address telephone number, or social security number, all of which are protected from disclosure
under FOIA Exemption 6.v

Patricia Campbell
FOIA Liaison
Enclosures

U.S. DEPARTMENT

OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Fort Worth Regional Office, Region VI


Office of Community Planning and Development
801 Cheny Street, Unit #45, Ste, 2500
Fort Worth, TX 76102
www.hud.gov

OCT 28 ,016
I"
I

Mr. A.C. Gonzalez


. City Manager
City of Dallas
1500 Marilla, "Room 4EN
Dallas, TX 75201
Dear Mr. Gonzalez:
SUBJECT:

Audit of the Department of Housing/Community Services'


Contract Monitoring - Request for Supporting Documentation

On March 18, 2016 the City Auditor, Craig D. Kinton issued the subject audit report
which identified a number of deficiencies in the administration of activities by the city's
Department of Housing/Communities Services. These deficiencies included a lack of clearly
defined policies and procedures for the evaluation and underwriting of proposed projects; failing
to maintain documentation of monitoring for projects that were funded; and a lack of supporting
documentation for payments made to such projects .. The audit stated that 54 projects undertaken
from Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 thru 2014 lacked su~h documentation. The funding for tnese
projects was stated to be $29.9 million.
"
When the audit came to the attention of this office discussions were initiated with the city
auditor and city staff as some of the projects covered by the audit received fmancial assistance
through Departmental funds that were provided to the City of Dallas. Chief among our concerns
were the steps being taken by the city to resolve the issues identified in the audit and the effort to
locate supporting documentation that would confirm the allowability of Departmental funds that
were disbursed by the City of Dallas.
.
~
While city staff assured the Department that corrective actions "have been and are being
taken, and that supporting documentation has been located, it is necessary for the city to provide
this documentation to support the assurances. In order to determine the adequacy of the actions
to eliminate risk to Departmental funds, ensure ongoing compliance for funded projects and to
confirm the allowability of Departmental funds'disbursed on these projects the City of Dallas
must provide the following information:

Projects covered by the audit that received funding under the Community
Development Block Grant (CDBG); HOME Investment Partnerships; and/or
Neighborhood Stabilization Programs (NSP).
Identification of Project Type and Funding by Program
Date of Initial Funding Commitment
Dates of Disbursements and Amounts by Project

.-/"

"

Copies of Disbursement Requests and Supporting Documentation to include on~


site progress inspection reports
'
Copies of Written Policies and Procedures for Underwriting and Project
Evaluation
Copies of Written Policies and Procedures for Monitoring of Construction
Projects along with recordkeeping requirements

The city is reminded that the HOME Program regulations at 92.250(b) require that the
city adopt formal underwriting guidelines for its program and document that each project was
evaluated against those guidelines-prior to the commitment of funds. At minimum the guidelines
must include:

An examination of the sources and uses of funds for the project and a "~
determination that the costs ar~ reasonable; and
An assessment, at minimum, of the current market demand in the neighborhood
in which the project will be located, the experience of the developer, the financial
capacity of the developer, and firm written financial commitments for the project.

The city is also reminded that for each ~"rojectit undertakes with funds from the Departmel1t
there must be records to support how it determined that costs were reasonable as well as
documentation to support the actua_luse of the funds.
Within 30 days of the date cfthis letter the city must provide a response along with the
documentation identified above. Should you have any questions please contact Stephen
.Eberlein, Program Manager, at 817.978.5956.

cc:

Craig D. Kinton
Chan Williams
Bernadette Mitchell

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