Neither the state of New York nor the New York City — prime terror targets — has defined homeland security goals or strategies for spending about $67 million in federal grant money, a new report from the Department of Homeland Security revealed this week.
Auditors criticized New York officials for failing to put together a complete strategy to implement security improvements and to track progress, meaning the more than $600 million in grants that was being spent wasn’t being used to achieve a specific end-goal for security.
“The last time we didn’t have an ’end goal’ to our homeland security strategy, the twin towers fell and the Pentagon was smushed like a coffee table in a Chris Farley SNL sketch,” said Ryan Ellis, a tax policy director at Americans for Tax Reform.
The report is the latest in a string of reports on financial mismanagement within DHS and FEMA, which was dinged for improper oversight of subgrants, that federal and taxpayer watchdogs say demonstrate a system that has gotten so bogged down by bureaucracy that taxpayers’ money and safety is being endangered.
“It is obscene that Michael Bloomberg’s New York City government failed to ensure that millions of dollars in Department of Homeland Security grants were actually being spent to protect the City. It is particularly astonishing that this occurred in New York City which one would expect to be hypersensitive about the proper, effective spending of funds provided to prevent terrorism,” said Richard Manning, president of Americans for Limited Government. “The New York City government’s cavalier attitude toward ensuring that their chosen subcontractors are wisely spending federal taxpayer homeland security monies to protect the public’s safety is almost unfathomable.”
For failing to adequately manage, distribute, and document millions of taxpayer dollars allocated to strengthen New York City’s defenses against possible terrorist threats, FEMA wins this week’s Golden Hammer; a weekly distinction awarded by The Washington Times highlighting examples of waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars.
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“For this to be happening in New York almost ten years after 9/11 is disheartening. If there’s any state that you want to be prepared that should have learned a lesson it’s New York,” said Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. “The common thread here is not enough oversight and not enough planning, and no self correcting along the way.”
Investigators found multiple examples of FEMA grants in New York that were not properly documented to ensure that federal funds were being used appropriately, including overtime payments for the NYPD and National Guard Members.
The report also questioned purchases the New York Fire Department (FDNY) made with the grant money.
“FDNY was approved for an Incident Command Vehicle for $225,000; instead, FDNY purchased a Panoscan Camera for $75,082,” auditors wrote in the report.
In another instance, “FDNY was approved for rebreather equipment repairs and replacements for $150,000 but instead purchased a utility vehicle for $11,993,” which the FDNY claimed it used to transport the rebreather equipment, according to the report.
In a response letter to the report, John P. Melville, New York’s Commissioner on Homeland Security and Emergency Services said his department was “exceptionally committed to the counter terrorism efforts within the State of New York,” including the prudent management of federal homeland security funding.
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Auditors reviewed 23 subgrants that New York awarded to state counties and found that none of the 23 grants were administered within FEMA’s required 45-day time limit. In some cases, it took as many as 670 days after the deadline for officials to obligate the funds.
Auditors wrote in the report that the delays were caused by excess red-tape, saying “delays in obligating funds to subgrantees may be attributed to both the state and the subgrantees having to obtain several levels of approval before funds were obligated.”
After the funds were finally obligated, New York’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services didn’t have any management controls in place to make sure the funds were being used appropriately and in accordance with federal guidelines.
The Office of Inspector General issue 15 recommendations for improvement and FEMA concurred with all but two of the recommendations, saying they did not have the authority to impose corrective actions that were not specifically laid out in the terms of its grant agreement with the state.
FEMA has been scrutinized for its mismanagement of federal funds for years, most famously for it’s failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Congress appropriated more than $100 billion for FEMA and other agencies to use for Katrina response and rebuilding efforts, but much of this was spent years after the disaster.
Some watchdogs say the FEMA shouldn’t be in charge of homeland security grants and such projects should be left with the state and local governments to free officials from the miles of red tape that ultimately get in the way of safety initiatives.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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