Oregon County's Use of Stimulus Funds Under IG Scrutiny

According to the OIG report, Multnomah County did not have adequate monitoring procedures over its subcontractors, who based expenditures on budgeted salaries but did not account for actual time spent by employees after the fact.

The state found no findings or concerns in its report of the county’s handing of stimulus funds. The federal government saw it differently.

“We found, on the contrary, that the county, allowed its subcontractors to charge unallowable mortgage and loan interest expenses, unallowable food and entertainment-related costs, and other costs that did not have adequate supporting documentation and/or were calculated using budget estimates,” the report states.

Multnomah County, in its written response, argues the $115,087 does not need to be paid back and that it was spent properly. The county says officials have taken steps to better monitor subcontractors and the spending of federal dollars.

“We appreciate the diligence on the part of federal authorities who monitor how the ARRA dollars are spent. Multnomah County, like other local government agencies, understand the importance of the checks and balances needed to assure that federal, state and other money gets spent wisely on the vulnerable populations we all serve,” Multnomah County communications director David Austin said. “The ARRA audit speaks for itself and the county is quite comfortable with the recommendations and our followup to the concerns raised. As we do whenever we get federal funding, we have looked at ways moving forward to tighten and monitor our fiscal controls.”

The county also said the use of the stimulus funds helped 175 households where someone was unemployed gain employment during their enrollment in or shortly after their exit from services, in an average of 10 months.

The county also conducted its own audit of seven other subcontractors,which the OIG did not review, and found $421 was spent improperly. That was recovered and paid back as well. As of July, the county also has required all subcontractors to improve time tracking records.

Officials with the inspector general’s office declined to comment directly on the story, deferring to the report.

Special thanks to NW Watchdog

watchdog.org/82733/or-countys-use-of-stimulus-funds-under-ig-scrutiny/