New York mismanages millions of dollars granted for security: Report
New York officials have failed to adequately manage millions of dollars granted for security goals in the state, a Homeland Security Department report reveals.
According to the report, neither the state of New York nor the New York City has defined homeland security goals or strategies for spending about $67 million in government grant money, the Washington Times reported.
The audit indicates that more than $600 million in grants that was being spent was not being used to achieve a specific end-goal for security.
“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,” said Richard Manning, president of Americans for Limited Government.
“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,” he added.
After reviewing 23 subgrants that were granted to state counties, auditors found out that none of the grants were administered within the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) 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.”
Ryan Ellis, a tax policy director at Americans for Tax Reform criticized New York officials for failing to spend funds appropriately and in accordance with federal guidelines.
“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,” Ellis said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Counterterrorism Center have issued warnings about possible attacks against law enforcement officers and the military during the July 4th weekend.
More law enforcement agents are being deployed to prominent locations because of concerns of terrorist threats ahead of the Independence Day celebrations.
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