Recovery.gov - Track the Money

HUD will use the $2.0 billion provided by ARRA to assure a full twelve months of funding for Section 8 contracts being renewed in FY 2009.

Project/Activity: Funding Existing Section 8 Contracts
Description: Adds money to existing contracts
Funding: $2,000,000,000.00

(1) Data Collection and Reporting
a. Financial Reports: HUD has two financial reports that will be generated and analyzed on a weekly basis. These include a Summary Financial Report that indicates the amount of funds for each program, and a Funding Notification Report, which shows the amount of funding by program for every jurisdiction, including local governments and some states.
b. Quarterly Recipient Reports: The cornerstone of HUD’s monitoring and evaluation system is the project and contract data collected from grantees. The Recovery Act specifically requires data collection fields for grantees and contractors. In addition to these data, HUD will also collect program-specific measures from grantees (e.g., the number of units in contracts being renewed with stimulus funds etc.).

(2) Ongoing Grantee Management: HUD categorizes grantees by risk, then monitors and allocates interventions, including training, technical assistance and if warranted, disciplinary action, accordingly. For the Section 8 program, high risk grantees are owners receiving more than $10 million in funds annually. To ensure timely expenditure of funds, HUD will track payments on a monthly basis to verify that owners are utilizing the funds, and will recapture amounts not being used in a timely fashion. To ensure budget/cost compliance, HUD will monitor each monthly voucher for accuracy and will reduce payments where errors are discovered. To ensure legal compliance, HUD will require annual financial statements and on-site annual reviews to evaluate both the condition of the project and the accuracy of tenant eligibility documentation. Actions for non-compliance include on-site management reviews and contract termination.

With respect to reporting, OMB has issued detailed guidance on the requirements for recipients of the Recovery Act funds. Specifically, each prime and first tier recipient is required to report specified information to HUD 10 days after the end of each calendar quarter. This includes but is not limited to a detailed list of all projects and activities for which Recovery Act funds were obligated or expended, an evaluation of the completion status of the project or activity, and an estimate of the number of jobs created or retained. In addition to the overarching requirements of the Recovery Act, HUD has also identified a number of program-specific measures that will be collected through this reporting process.

HUD expects that the transparency requirements of the Recovery Act, specifically the requirement to publish both spending and recipient performance reports, will create accountability amongst its managers and grantees. That said, HUD will establish additional internal management controls to create a greater level of accountability for performance. The HUD Recovery Act program management team will work with the leads of the program and cross-cutting teams to prepare a bi-weekly program snapshot report for the steering committee to review with the Deputy Secretary and Secretary. Drawing from the program and risk management plans, the reports will include summary-level quantitative financial and programmatic performance measures and targets, key milestones, and issues or risks. Interim spending and performance targets will be set to ensure that annual objectives from the program plans are met. Performance data will be summarized by grantee risk category, as defined in the agency’s risk management plan. Performance measure targets and milestones that are missed, or that are in jeopardy of being missed, will be accompanied by an explanation of the reasons why, including any issues affecting progress and the specific plan for their resolution or mitigation. The report will also identify specific grantees with performance issues, and summarize the actions being taken to address them. In addition to the bi-weekly reporting, each program team will meet with the Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Steering Committee on a monthly basis to review a more detailed set of Recovery Act performance measures. On a quarterly basis, these monthly meetings will include updated grant recipient data described above.

This program does not invest in Federal Infrastructure.