We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark, NJ, Office of Community Planning and Development instruct County officials to strengthen the County’s administrative controls to ensure that County staff adequately monitors its subgrantee for compliance with HOME program requirements and provide HOME program training to the County subgrantee’s staff.

We recommend that HUD’s Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grant Programs instruct City officials to reimburse the Program from non-Federal funds $18,274,054 in exempt State sales tax on repairs and maintenance services.

We recommend that HUD’s Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grant Programs instruct City officials to strengthen controls over disbursements to ensure that all costs charged to the Program are allowable, reasonable, and necessary in compliance with the HUD-approved action plan and Federal and State regulations.

We recommend that the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grant Programs require the State to support or properly obligate $11,717,288 in unsupported obligations.

Complete the implementation of the new accounting system and ensure it tracks program funds to a level that supports compliance with HUD requirements.

Provide support that $944,687 (Footnote 2: Emergency funds of more than $1.1 million drawn between July 1, 2011, and December 31, 2015, were adjusted to consider $158,800 questioned in recommendation 1C and $38,164 questioned in recommendation 1D.) in Emergency funds drawn from HUD is reconciled with the accounting records and that such funds have not been used in violation of the restrictions and prohibitions of applicable statutes or reimburse the Emergency programs from non-Federal funds.

Reimburse $189,227 to the Emergency programs from non-Federal funds for ineligible charges made to the programs.

Submit supporting documentation showing the eligibility, reasonableness, and allocability of $38,164 charged to the Emergency programs for unsupported drawdowns and equipment cost allocations or reimburse the programs from non-Federal funds.

Direct the New Orleans, LA, field office to enforce its monitoring findings and require the grantee to provide documentation to support costs totaling $4,959,911 or the grantee must reimburse its program from non-Federal funds for any costs that it cannot support.

Direct the Washington, DC, field office to require the grantee to provide documentation to support the $1,766,778 in unsupported payments identified or the grantee must reimburse its program from non-Federal funds for any costs that it cannot support.

Direct the Washington, DC, field office to require the grantee to repay its program $4,214 from non-Federal funds for the ineligible costs associated with activity 1515.

Direct field offices to include property acquisition and disposition activities as an area of special emphasis when assessing grantee risk and establishing their monitoring plans and grantee monitoring strategies.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark, NJ, Office of Community Planning and Development instruct City officials to reimburse the City’s CDBG local bank account for the $11,532,769 in uncollected program income generated from the disposition of real property previously assisted with CDBG funds, thus ensuring that these funds can be used for eligible activities.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark, NJ, Office of Community Planning and Development instruct City officials to provide documentation to support whether $148,000 in CDBG program income was generated from the disposition of real properties acquired with CDBG funds so that HUD can determine eligibility. Any recognized program income should be reimbursed to the City’s local bank account and recorded in IDIS, thus ensuring that these funds can be put to better use.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark, NJ, Office of Community Planning and Development instruct City officials to record the mortgages on the five CDBG-assisted properties that were demolished and acquired with CDBG assistance of $1,475,674, thus ensuring that these properties are administered in compliance with program requirements.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark, NJ, Office of Community Planning and Development instruct City officials to provide documentation, such as proof of advertising, bids received, bid analysis reports, cost estimates, contracts, and other applicable records, to support compliance with Federal procurement regulations in the awarding of the five contracts.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark, NJ, Office of Community Planning and Development instruct City officials to provide documentation to support compliance with Federal procurement regulations when contracts were awarded to the three single bidders.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark, NJ, Office of Community Planning and Development instruct City officials to provide documentation to support the eligibility of the three tenants occupying low- to moderate-income housing units at a residential property assisted with CDBG funds.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark, NJ, Office of Community Planning and Development instruct City officials to provide documentation to support that those laborers employed by the four contractors are compensated in accordance with Davis-Bacon wage rates. If documentation cannot be provided, the City’s line of credit should be reimbursed from non-Federal funds for disbursements made to the four contractors.

We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Newark, NJ, Office of Community Planning and Development instruct City officials to provide documentation to support the income eligibility of the homeowner who received $30,600 in CDBG funds related to the rebate program. If documentation cannot be provided, the City’s CDBG program line of credit should be reimbursed $30,600 from non-Federal funds.