LC Housing Authority may have violated state Constitution

An independent contractor hired by the Lake Charles Housing Authority to inspect Section 8 housing received $222,161 over a three-year period. However, a recent audit stated a lack of detail in invoices and records indicate more than half of that amount paid was for undocumented inspections.

The audit, issued Feb. 27 by Louisiana Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera, stated that the housing authority’s Section 8 manager said “she did not verify that inspections were performed or reconcile the contractor’s invoices to the electronic scheduling system before approving payment.” Because of this, the authority “may not have received adequate value for $118,473” of the money spent, a possible violation of the state Constitution’s “prohibition of donation of public funds,” the audit reads.

The audit concerns payment to the contractor from Oct. 1, 2015, through Sept. 30, 2018. According to the report, the contractor stated he conducted Section 8 inspections for the housing authority since 2000 and “has signed at least two contracts with the authority.” However, neither he, nor the authority, could provide the auditor with a written copy of the contract. State law requires these records be kept for at least three years.

Ben Taylor, housing authority executive director, said several inspections are done to make sure a home meets Section 8 requirements. It must be initially inspected to be put under the program. After that, homes are annually inspected. Inspections may also occur because of a tenant complaint.

The contractor said he was paid $17 per inspection and received a $400 monthly fuel allowance. He was also paid for each “no show,” a situation where an inspection could not be done because a tenant or landlord was not at the location.

The contractor said he submitted invoices to the Section 8 manager every two weeks, including the amount of inspections done and “no shows.” But the Section 8 manager stated she didn’t verify if the inspections were done or “reconcile the invoice to scheduled inspections” in the computer software, PHA-Web, before approving a payment invoice.

The audit shows 4,594 inspections invoiced, including no shows, from Oct. 1, 2015 to Sept. 30, 2016. There were 1,444 inspections listed in the PHA-Web software during the same time period, leaving a difference of 3,150 undocumented inspections. The contractor was paid $53,550 for the undocumented difference.

From Oct. 1 2016 until Sept. 30, 2017, there were 4,899 invoiced inspections, with 1,621 inspections listed in the software. That left 3,278 undocumented inspections, which resulted in a payment of $55,726.

There was a significant drop from Oct. 1 2017 to Sept. 30, 2018, with 2,779 inspections invoiced, and 1,955 inspections mentioned in the computer software. The 824 undocumented inspections resulted in $9,197 paid to the contractor.

The number of Section 8 housing units during these three periods remained fairly consistent, with numbers ranging from 1,388 units to 1,228 units.

Taylor attributes additional software allowing for better tracking of “no shows.” According to the audit, the Section 8 manager said the computer software was used to schedule inspections and mark when they were done. But they didn’t start keeping track of “no shows” until January 2018.

“We’ve been following this for about a year trying to get this together,” Taylor said. “When you see a big drop, that’s when we added the software; it allows the authority to document the no shows.”

Taylor said the housing authority continues to work on fixing the discrepancy.

“It’s very embarrassing,” he said. “We’re angry it happened, (but) we’re going to get it fixed.”

Taylor said the office is working to have its Section 8 housing inspector be “an in house position,” rather than be independently contracted.

“We’re laying out the ground work for that,” he said. “It might give us better control.”

The report has been turned over to the District Attorney for the 14th Judicial District.Audit findings graphicAmerican Press