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Chiefs cut ‘not truthful’ Hunt after release of video showing him striking woman

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<p>A federal agency has flagged a Luzerne County Community Development Office fund, saying too much unspent money is sitting in the bank.</p><p>The agency &#8212; the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD &#8212; said it may reduce its 2019 federal funding to the county if it fails to produce an acceptable explanation on why program funds have not been spent in a timely manner, according to a communication sent to county officials Friday.</p><p>Community Development Executive Director Andrew Reilly said his office has a valid argument and already implemented a plan to address the surplus funds.</p><p>According to Reilly:</p><p>HUD long had a timeliness standard prohibiting community development offices from holding more than 1.5 times their yearly Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) allocation.</p><p>The county had met this requirement for many years. It receives around $3.9 million in CDBG funds annually for an array of services and programs, including awards to municipalities for road repairs and demolition, earmarks to regional economic development agencies and housing repair assistance for low-income property owners.</p><p>However, HUD &#8220;abruptly&#8221; changed the CDBG formula calculation in 2017 by also counting the county&#8217;s business development loan fund in the total unspent amount.</p><p>At that point, the county loan fund had ballooned to more than $15 million. It was set up in 1982 as a perpetual source to provide low-interest loans to area businesses and economic development agencies, but lower interest rates elsewhere reduced demand for the county loans.</p><p>With the loan fund factored in, the county exceeded the HUD standard.</p><p>&#8220;We would have met our timeliness standards if they didn&#8217;t change the policy and add the revolving loan fund,&#8221; Reilly said. &#8220;That was a huge change.&#8221;</p><p>The administration has implemented a solution this year &#8212; giving out $15 million in loan funds to municipalities for infrastructure projects, Reilly said. However, the $15 million is still in the bank because the municipal recipients must complete environmental work, seek bids and submit invoices before the funds are released, and most construction work won&#8217;t begin until the spring.</p><p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t just hand them a check,&#8221; Reilly said.</p><p>He said he had kept HUD updated on the $15 million infrastructure plan and will again present it to federal officials as part of his case that the office should not be penalized with a funding cut.</p><p><strong>&#8216;Longstanding policy&#8217;</strong></p><p>In the Friday communication, a HUD representative said federal regulations allow no more than 1.5 times the annual grant to be left 60 days prior to the end of a program year.</p><p>The county had 3.16 times its annual allocation in November 2017 and 4.17 times its allocation in November 2018, the communication said.</p><p>&#8220;HUD has a longstanding policy of reducing the future year&#8217;s grant of a grantee that continues to be untimely,&#8221; it said.</p><p>The county is entitled to an informal consultation prior to a reduction of its 2019 grant, preferably to be held by Dec. 14, it said. This will provide the county an opportunity to dispute the noncompliance finding or demonstrate that timely performance was affected by factors &#8220;beyond its reasonable control.&#8221;</p><p>Going forward, Reilly said the administration must perform analysis to determine if the business loan fund will continue and, if so, how much will remain in the bank.</p><p>Although the $15 million infrastructure awards will largely drain the loan fund, past borrowers are still making payments, Reilly said. For example, the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce is expected to repay a $3.4 million loan when it closes on a pending land sale.</p><p>As outside interest rates rise, Reilly has received a few preliminary inquiries from entities interested in county business development loans. Unlike private sector borrowing options, the county loans carry federal requirements for job creation and economic benefits.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re not going to be able to carry a significant amount of money &#8212; maybe a few million at most &#8212; because of the new standards,&#8221; said Reilly.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Courthouse </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_luzcocourthouse01-8.jpg</photo0><caption0>Luzerne County Courthouse </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Federal agency: Luzerne County government office has too much money in bank