BALTIMORE (WBFF) — A Baltimore city council meeting Wednesday night was filled with questions about the city’s management of millions of tax dollars. Council President Zeke Cohen convened the meeting following an audit that revealed the city has failed to meet state and federal deadlines for filing financial reports for five consecutive years.
“This is federal requirements and it’s never good to have any kind of lateness,” said Cohen.
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City finance department staff attributed the delays to factors beyond their control, including the impact of COVID-19, staffing issues, and training new employees.
“The story of the days and number of days highlights the impact of COVID. The impact of staffing and training new staff,” they said.
The audit also uncovered issues with the management of $641 million in federal COVID relief funds. An independent auditor informed council members that the city failed to comply with federal guidelines for managing these funds, known as ARPA dollars.
“Monitoring issues and cash management issues, items that’s where we would say that the city did not comply within the requirements set forth in uniformed guidance,” said auditor William Seymour.
Councilman Yitzy Schleifer expressed concern over the findings. “To hear they’re out of compliance is quite shocking,” he said. Schleifer warned that the city’s mismanagement could jeopardize the funds.
“It’s quite shocking to see there are significant weaknesses and what that means is that money will have to be returned to the federal government if it’s not done correctly,” Schleifer said.
The city had spent tens of thousands of dollars hiring staff to manage the federal funds.