Recipients say reports were turned in, but after deadline
By Eric Boehm | PA Independent
HARRISBURG — Eight Pennsylvania entities that received more than $10 million in federal stimulus money failed to complete mandatory quarterly reports showing how the money was spent.
The eight recipients — cities, counties, nonprofits and companies in the Keystone State — are listed as non-compliers on a federal website that tracks Recovery Act money and the projects for which it was used. Those entities failed to file reports by the end of last year’s fourth quarter, their requisite deadline.
PA Independent tried last week to determine why.
Those that responded generally told the same story — reports were submitted but deadlines were missed for a variety of reasons, including technical difficulties and staff turnover.
Joan Blaustein is director of urban forestry and ecosystem management for Philadelphia Parks and Recreation. She said her organization missed the deadline because an identification code, needed to file electronically, expired.
Blaustein called the project a success and said the final report was submitted in the spring, since the grant’s funding was all used up.
The government has not yet made available reports for the first quarter of 2012.
Renee Sluzalis, the organization’s CEO, said the center missed the end-of-year reporting deadline because of staff turnover and problems with electronic filing.
“We had some miscommunication, and the report was submitted late, but it was submitted,” she said.
The federal $840 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, or ARRA, is more commonly referred to as the “stimulus fund.” Congress passed it as a way to boost employment and help the economy recover in the wake of the 2008 financial collapse.
Its success has been debatable.
Defenders of the stimulus spending have argued that it helped prevent economic Armageddon and far higher levels of unemployment as the nation recovered from the worst recession in 80 years.
A total of 5,869 jobs were “created or saved” by money sent to the Keystone State through the stimulus. That’s about $1.6 million spent for every job “created or saved”.
Blaustein said the park project in Philadelphia created jobs because the city contracted with landscapers who otherwise may not have had work last summer, when much of the Fairmount Park project was completed.
Head Start Learning Tree in Philadelphia blamed staff turnover for its tardiness.
She’s embarrassed by the missed deadline.
“If somebody gives you money — it doesn’t matter if it is the federal government or a private foundation — and they say a report has to be turned in on a certain day, my belief is that you have to have that on time,” she said. “If we miss any more reports, I take personal responsibility.”
Other recipients in Pennsylvania listed as delinquent failed to return calls seeking for comment. Those projects are:
- A $4.5 million grant through the federal Department of Homeland Security to Delaware County, which subcontracted with the Boeing Corp. to improve security at ports in the county.
- A $1.2 million grant to Somerset Villas Inc., which operates Section 8 housing in Philadelphia, to preserve housing units for elderly and disabled people. This report has been non-compliant for two consecutive quarters, according to the stimulus tracker website.
- A $1 million contract with L.R. Costanzo Inc., a Scranton-based construction for a restoration project at the Grey Towers National Historic Site in Pike County.
- A $500,000 grant to the city of McKeesport in Allegheny County to pay for utilities and rent for low-income people.
- A $37,000 contract with EwingCole, a Philadelphia-based engineering and design firm, to install replacement windows in the town of Ithaca, N.Y.
In other states, some recipients have complained of excessive reporting requirements for the stimulus projects, but Blaustein said the reports were no more complicated than those concerning most federal money — all require detailed filings, she added.
Crooms said the most important thing was accurately reporting how public money was spent.
“Whenever you get money from the federal government or the state, you’re going to have a lot of paperwork,” she said. “We’re spending the people’s money, and the public has a right to know how it is spent.”
