Texas has gotten millions of federal dollars from the economic-stimulus package to help poor residents cut their energy bills, but as of last month, only seven homes had been weather-treated, according to a newspaper report.
The Dallas Morning News reported that Texas has spent $1.8 million of $163 million available over the past four months and most of that went to administrative costs like salaries for state workers. Data on the number of homes weatherized was only available through the end of November.
The Department of Housing and Community Affairs has the task in Texas of figuring out how to get the money to local agencies and governments.
State officials acknowledge the slow start but say they’re trying to ensure there is no waste or fraud. They also say federal red tape has been a problem.
“I didn’t expect tens of thousands, but seven is shocking,” said Randy Chapman, executive director of the Texas Legal Services Center, one of several groups monitoring stimulus spending in Texas.
The Department of Housing and Community Affairs is on track to receive $327 million overall from the stimulus package – 55 times what the state typically gets in a year from the Department of Energy for weatherization work. It has until March 2012 to spend the money, with a goal of weatherizing 56,000 homes.
“It’s the intersection of time and quality,” said Brooke Boston, a deputy executive director at the state Department of Housing and Community Affairs. “If you could give agencies as long as they wanted, could you feel pretty good about every regulation followed to a T and every residence done perfect? Probably.”
Boston said federal officials “aren’t excited about where we are today, and neither are we.”
State officials expect spending to increase by March. Starting in January, the housing department plans to post information on its Web site projecting the number of homes local agencies and governments will weatherize each month with stimulus funds.
State officials also say they have developed a monitoring program to track how federal stimulus funds for weatherization are spent. That monitoring will be done in part by doubling their energy assistance section from 15 to 30 employees.
Under the Weatherization Assistance Program, states contract with community groups and local governments to spend the federal money. The local groups then hire contractors to insulate walls and attics, seal cracks, caulk windows, and supply energy-efficient appliances.
Information from: The Dallas Morning News,
http://www.dallasnews.com
Topics Texas
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