Community Development: HUD Oversight of the Dallas Block Grant Program Needs Improvement
RCED-92-3
Published: Nov 27, 1991. Publicly Released: Nov 27, 1991.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO determined whether the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provided adequate oversight of the Dallas Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, focusing on HUD monitoring of the city's: (1) timely expenditure of CDBG funds; (2) use of CDBG funds to enforce housing codes; (3) control over subrecipients; and (4) accounting and planning and administrative costs.
Recommendations
Matter for Congressional Consideration
| Matter | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Since the use of subrecipients is increasing and HUD does not know the extent to which P&A expenses of subrecipients and subunits of local government would affect grantees' compliance with the 20-percent limitation, and although some additional resources may be necessary, Congress should consider requiring that HUD identify the amount of planning and administrative costs that are now excluded from the 20-percent limitation. Further, if on the basis of this information, Congress believes the CDBG program's P&A expenses are excessive, appropriations could be revised to require that all CDBG P&A costs be applied to the 20-percent limitation, regardless of who incurs them. |
Closed – Not Implemented
|
According to the Director, Office of Block Grant Assistance, there is no evidence that Congress intends to act on this issue (3-30-93), because Congress sees the need for greater flexibility in how CDBG funds may be used, not less. |
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | To improve the overall effectiveness of the CDBG program by ensuring that funds are spent on the highest-priority activities, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development should require community planning and development monitors to identify the causes of grantee performance deficiencies affecting the timely use of CDBG funds in order to help ensure that appropriate corrective measures are devised and implemented. |
Closed – Implemented
HUD issued CDBG Entitlement Grant Management Handbook (6513.01) on September 18, 1992. The Handbook includes instructions to monitoring staff on identifying the reasons for a grantee's inability to meet the standards for timely use of CDBG funds.
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Topics
Accounting proceduresAdministrative costsBlock grantsCommunity developmentFederal fundsstate relationsLaw enforcementMonitoringMunicipal governmentsNoncompliance