The Augusta Commission authorized a grant compliance audit Tuesday that could shed light on why the city had to refund a $6.5 million rental assistance grant to the U.S. Treasury.
At an 11 a.m. called meeting, the commission voted to hire national firm Cherry Bekaert Advisory LLC to conduct an audit of Augusta Housing and Community Development, which administered the grant.
The vote was 9-0, with commissioners Alvin Mason and Brandon Garrett absent and Mayor Garnett Johnson voting in favor.
Interim Finance Director Tim Schroer said Cherry Bekaert, which is already engaged with the department on year-end audit tasks, was chosen for the new audit May 8 by a staff committee out of five companies that submitted bids.
Addressing the commission, Cherry Bekaert managing partner Bonnie Cox said the audit will focus on “grants management and compliance” and include a risk assessment to identify potential compliance risks, including areas that could lead to audit findings.
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The commission voted April 1 to refund $6.5 million to the U.S. Treasury due to it being unspent by a federal deadline. On April 2, department Director Hawthorne Welcher was placed on leave with pay “until the conclusion of an internal audit.” Welcher and the department were accused of spending some of the grant funds on items other than rental assistance.
The audit approved by the commission Tuesday included 308 hours of work completed over 5-6 months at a maximum cost of $63,160. Some work will be done on-site while most is geoagnostic and will be performed remotely, Cox said.
The audit’s timing can be adjusted during the planning and scope refinement phase, she said.
“The planning and scoping on the front end I would say is the most critical part, where we really peel back the onion and really see what’s there,” she said.
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City to restart private property debris removal
The audit and a second item, debris removal on private property, were two items city staff had marked as urgent which the commission approved at the called meeting.
City Administrator Tameka Allen said Team Rubicon had been working for months to remove hurricane debris from private property for those in need, but had to leave the area April 22.
The commission Tuesday approved the launch of a private property debris removal program approved by FEMA to pick up where Rubicon left off.
The program will cover approximately 138 owner-occupied properties reported to 311 that Rubicon didn’t get to, but resources are limited, Allen said. If the work is completed by city debris removal contractors Ceres or GMC by June 30, the city can be 100% reimbursed, she said.
