The Housing Authority of Travis County (HATC) is in trouble with federal authorities. An audit by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) accuses HATC of approving $4.1 million in transfers between federal and non-federal accounts, which is not allowed under HUD guidelines. HUD also says the agency spent $600,000 on undocumented expenses as well as making a small amount of clearly ineligible expenditures.
Interim Director Craig Alter has agreed to repay the $3,000 in documented ineligible expenditures and said the authority has separated federal and non-federal accounts and was reviewing past transactions in order to determine what might be due to the government.
Budget transfers between subsidized federal and non-federal programs – in order to cover program shortfalls — will not occur again, Alter said. Right now, the agency is unraveling $3.2 million in past transactions and transfers. If there is a need to replenish the federal coffers at HATC, it will come from three revenue-producing properties, Alter said.
The Housing Authority of Travis County is governed by a five-member board of commissioners appointed by the county commissioners. It is an independent, government-funded agency charged with the responsibility of providing an adequate supply of low income housing to help meet the housing needs of the residents of
Long-time local activists Richard Moya and Melvin Wrenn are both members of HATC board.