The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Inspector General believes Anchorage’s recently approved plan to purchase three buildings for homeless services with federal dollars is an ineligible use of COVID-19 relief funds.
The office looked into the spending plan after several citizens lodged complaints about the purchase of the buildings, a plan that drew intense criticism from residents near the proposed facilities.
On Wednesday morning, six members of the Inspector General’s Office discussed the issue with Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, several members of his staff and two Anchorage Assembly members for a little more than an hour.
“Their interpretation was that these buildings purchases would not be an appropriate us of CARES Act funds,” said Assembly Chair Felix Rivera, who participated in the meeting.
In a news conference Wednesday, Berkowitz’s Chief of Staff, Jason Bockenstedt, and Municipal Attorney Kate Vogel, gave a recap.
Staff from the federal office said they had concerns with the city’s plan to purchase buildings for long-term shelter and other services with pandemic relief money. They also had concerns with jobs programs and first responder payroll backfill that the city plans to fund with CARES Act money.
That money has to be spent by Dec. 30.
Bockenstedt said the Inspector General’s office is not the decider on what is or isn’t an appropriate use of CARES Act funds. That responsibility falls to the U.S. Treasury.
Bockenstedt said the city plans to meet with the Treasury to vet its plan. No meeting has been scheduled yet.
Vogel said she’s not sure how many complaints, but that those in opposition of the buildings purchases encouraged others to complain to the Inspector General’s office.
Concern of misuse of CARES Act funds was voiced repeatedly during five nights of public testimony on the plan. Berkowitz’s administration repeatedly argued it was an appropriate use. Bockenstedt during one meeting that the Treasury’s guidance was “crystal clear.”
On Wednesday, Bockenstedt took a different approach.
“(Inspector General’s staff) acknowledged some of the frustration that states and local governments are having with dealing with this very large stimulus package and the guidance that has come along with it, that at times has not been super clear,” Bockenstedt said.
Vogel said part of that uncertainty is that the Treasury’s guidance has continually changed, leaving local government scrambling to keep up.
“We are in a really interesting situation where we have federal dollars that must be spent really, really quickly in a landscape of guidance that keeps changing,” Vogel said. “The latest guidance was updated two days ago, and apparently more is still forthcoming.”
Bockenstedt said the Berkowitz administration wants the Anchorage Assembly to continue its work Wednesday night in taking public testimony, deliberating and ultimately voting on the plan.
Rivera said he is not concerned with moving forward on approval of the plan, but said there will be an amendment added stating that use of any funds approved by the Assembly would be conditional to the mayor’s administration getting approval from the U.S. Treasury.
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August 13, 2020 at 06:43AM
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Federal officials raise objections to Anchorage's plan to purchase buildings with CARES Act funds - Anchorage Daily News
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