In case you are sick of reading the Wells Report, you may want to report the HUD audit on the City of Worcester’s disposition of CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) monies that details $13,760,061 that HUD feels was spent inappropriately over a three year period.     In the end, however, the City of Worcester has agreed to pay back HUD $3,400,000, as reported in the Telegram the other day.

These are the five agencies that are responsible, although we do not know the break-out:

  1. Main South CDC
  2. Oak Hill CDC
  3. Worcester Common Ground Inc. (WCG)
  4. Worcester East Side CDC
  5. Worcester Community Housing Resources Inc. (WCHR)

Here is how the City Of Worcester awarded $4,038.138 of CDBG monies from HUD this past Spring.   Let us get this right, you can 1) receive a grant through the City of Worcester HUD CDBG program, 2) not be held responsible if HUD asks for money back  and 3) still receive more grant monies?

 

  • South Worcester   $55,780
  • South Worcester   $31,311

If you forgot what Gardner-Kilby-Hammond  is,  read this from last year.   The City of Worcester guaranteed a $5,800,000 loan for Gardner-Kilby-Hammond, Main South CDC project, and when they were not able to pay the City of Worcester was stuck holding the bill.    Beside this annual payment for 9 more years, we still have we have two balloon payments on this HUD Loan (2018-1,870,000 and 2024-1,270,000), which we will have virtually no money left for “public services” (can not exceed 15% of the of the total CDBG allocation).

 

We wonder how the $1,614,525 for ‘Housing and Neighborhood Stabilization” will be awarded????   Will the agencies that just cost us $3,400,000 be eligible for these grant monies??