The Housing Authority of Fulton County met on July 31 and voted to hire an affordable housing industry consultant and to move forward on a forensic audit of the agency’s financial records.
The meeting came just days after the Fulton County Commission ousted the last remaining authority members and appointed new ones. New members Felicia Moore, Stephen Davis, Holly York, and Lauren Waits met via Zoom. The three-member consulting team and interim Executive Director Tiffany Hinton also joined the meeting.
Hiring a consultant and conducting a forensic audit were recommendations made by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which provides the Housing Authority’s funding.
A contract with CVR of Alpharetta was approved for the consultant to spend up to 100 hours to assess the workings of the finances and procedures of the Housing Authority.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recommended that the county replace the former board members and conduct the audit due to questions about financial records and late payments, including those for federal Housing Choice Vouchers used to assist low-income families, the elderly and disabled.
The Housing Authority approved having Fulton County Chief Operation Officer Pamela Roshell help them seek proposals from a public accounting firm suggested by HUD and from a pool of firms previously used by the county.
A contract for Hinton through the end of September was approved, subject to approval by the Housing Authority’s attorney.
Moore said that HUD has offered training for the new Housing Authority members.
“We definitely need to schedule a time to go to the Housing Authority and meet, not virtually, but in person,” Moore said. “And perhaps, I think commissioners might want to try to have a retreat if you want to call it that, or something, where we can spend, you know, a good amount of time to try to get ourselves up to speed and understand what we are.”
