Paperwork error sends D.C. back to stimulus drawing board
By: Bill Myers
Examiner Staff Writer
June 5, 2009
The White House has twice turned down the District of Columbia’s request for more than $120 million in stimulus money because D.C. bureaucrats have fouled up their application, city officials told The Examiner.
D.C. has just completed a struggle to close an $800 million budget gap for fiscal 2010 by relying on millions of dollars in stimulus cash from the federal government. But city officials have failed in their attempts to get the paperwork requesting the money completed appropriately, and the White House has twice sent back their applications, two officials said on condition of anonymity.
The gaffes have held up about $123 million in federal stimulus money for the Department of Transportation, one city official said.
White House spokeswoman Moira Mack couldn’t be reached for comment. D.C. Transportation Department spokesman John Lisle said: “We’ve apparently had to modify some of the forms. It’s really just a matter of what the feds are looking for. We’re not alone. A lot of states have gone through this — California, for instance.”
Lisle added: “If it’s an issue with language, we’ll adjust that. We’ll do whatever it takes.”
D.C. has struggled for years to get control over the public purse strings. Its $1.3 billion school system is rated “high risk” for federal funds and twice last year the city paid millions of dollars to settle separate federal False Claims Act claims stemming from fraud and abuse in federal grants.
It’s one of the few jurisdictions in the country that is facing immediate audits by the U.S. Government Accountability Office as it takes in cash from President Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus program.
The Fenty administration has made much of its relationship with the Obama White House and is banking on the president’s largesse to help the city recover from its financial crisis. For the last two fiscal years, Fenty and the City Council have scrambled to balance the city’s budget, after years of surpluses.
