HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-1143
Mathis, Jeana
From:Robert Williams <robertwilliams51@att.net>
Sent:Tuesday, December 20, 2022 8:24 AM
To:Turk, Teresa; Hertzberg, Holly; Harvey, Sonia; Jones, D'Andre; Kinion, Mark; %
20mike.wiederkehr@fayetteville-ar.gov; Scroggin, Sloan; Bunch, Sarah
Cc:Williams, Kit; Agenda Item Comment
Subject:American Rescue Plan Act Funding Item C.2
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Good Morning Council Members,
After reviewing the information available for FHA Development's grant application, there are still some things unclear about the use
of the funds. Treasury has determined that these subrecipients are responsible to report back to the City where they spent the money
and that the City is responsible for making sure the grant funds are spent appropriately. It appears the expenses listed in the FHA
Development application have already been paid for. If the funds aren't going to be used to pay those expenses, the obvious question
is, what are they going to do with the grant money?
Grant funds can not be used as contributions to any rainy-day funds, financial reserves, or similar funds. The Treasury documents
provided in your packet go into detail as to why this is not an eligible use of the funds, but the summary is because the funds were
intended to be spent, not saved. The negative economic impact is well documented, however it is not clear how the grant money is
going to be spent. I don't think the City Council should contribute to FHA Development's financial woes by awarding them a grant
without a clear plan.
On the subject of financial woes, Fayetteville Housing Authority (FHA) and FHA Development recently went through a HUD review
and it was determined that over $100,000 of FHA funds were improperly spent on FHA Development expenses and had to be
repaid. Of course, FHA Development does not have that kind of money to return to FHA. Another ineligible use is "satisfaction of
any obligation arising under or pursuant to a settlement agreement, judgement, or consent decree...". If the intent is to repay FHA
with these grant funds, I think it would violate this restriction on use. If that is the plan, it should probably be vetted by the City
Attorney so the City is not on the hook to recoup the award if it turns out to be an ineligible use when reported to the Treasury.
All of these grant applications are bundled up as one action item on the agenda, so it looks like the Council has to take action and
approve or reject them all in one vote, like the Consent Agenda. If the Council isn't going to separate the applications, then it should
at least let this item stand tonight to give FHA Development time to amend their application to make it clear how the funds will be
spent. There is not a pressing date to make these awards and this is not an emergency. This should not be read three times tonight.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Robert Williams
Ward 4 Resident
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