The City of Compton, Compton, CA, Did Not Always Administer Neighborhood Stabilization Program Funds in Compliance With Procedures and Regulations

We audited the City of Compton’s Neighborhood Stabilization Programs (NSP) 1 and 3 due to a referral made by our Office of Investigation because of concerns related to ongoing issues at the City and complaints received about the City’s administration of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds.  In addition, HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development rated the City as high risk for administering program funds in fiscal year 2018.  Our audit objective was to determine whether the City administered NSP1 and NSP3 funds in compliance with its own procedures and HUD regulations. The City did not (1) maintain procurement documents for acquisition and rehabilitation services and consultant services to show fair and open competition at a reasonable price, (2) always disburse program expenses in compliance with its own procedures and HUD regulations, and (3) submit the required reports to HUD on time and post HUD quarterly performance reports on its website.  These issues occurred because the City did not implement its procurement controls.  In addition, the City experienced high staff turnover, which did not allow it to administer these programs in compliance with HUD regulations.  As a result, the City did not give vendors the opportunity to bid in fair and open competition for the services needed in the targeted areas.  Also, the City disbursed a total of $272,206 in questioned program expenses.  In addition, the City’s late submission of required reports to HUD and lack of posting performance reports on its website prevented HUD, the general public, government entities, and other stakeholders from knowing the progress of its program-funded projects and activities. We recommend that HUD require the City to (1) implement procurement controls to maintain complete procurement documents, (2) provide adequate documents to support $270,656 in program expenses, and (3) submit future required reports to HUD on time and post the missing and future HUD quarterly performance reports on its website.