Controller reports $4.9 million of CARES Act funds spent

WINDOW ROCK

Per a Sept. 14 report prepared by the Office of the Controller that summarizes the Navajo Nation’s CARES Act spending, sent anonymously to this reporter, only $4.9 million of the Nations’ $714 million CARES Act allocation from the U.S. Treasury has been spent.

With 106 days left until the federal CARES Act expenditure deadline of Dec. 30, the clock is ticking. If you divide $714 million (less the $4.9 million) by 106 remaining days, that would mean the Navajo Nation government would have to pay out an average of about $6.7 million per day through Dec. 30 to expend the entire amount allocated to the Nation.

All of the CARES Act financial information was supposed to be available on an OOC web-dashboard that the public could view, but that has not happened yet. Despite committing to transparency, the president’s and speaker’s offices have not provided comprehensive CARES Act updates on how much has been spent or how all of the approved projects and appropriations are coming along.

Delegates such as Amber Kanazbah Crotty have continually pressed for transparency and sharing of information when it comes to CARES Act funds. Controller Pearline Kirk has been providing updates from her office to the Budget and Finance Committee.

According to the OOC report, its office has spent a total of $2.9 million, which includes $2.6 million toward a “financial system,” $310,000 for “special duty pay,” and $10,500 to the “judicial branch.” The total CARES Act funds budgeted to the OOC is $99.9 million.

The Division of General Services has expended $2 million for “DIT computer” with a total budget allocation of $65.2 million in CARES Act funds. The Division of Community Development has spent zero dollars, with a total of $82.9 million budgeted for CARES Act projects. According to the report, the Division of Economic Development has expended zero dollars, with a budget allocation of $60 million for CARES Act grant relief.

Finally, the Division of Natural Resources has expended zero dollars of its $130.8 million budget allocation. The combined total budget allocation for all divisions that have been allocated CARES Act funds to administer is $538 million, leaving approximately $176 million yet to be appropriated through the Navajo Nation Council and signed by President Jonathan Nez.

Delays and red tape

Many of the division directors and program directors have been working with the OOC, Office of Management and Budget, grant sub-recipients and contractors to plan for CARES Act expenditures. But delays have been caused by a number of factors, including finalizing budgets, confusion over sub-recipient agreements, and getting approvals for contracts or emergency procurements, which all require adherence to strict federal guidelines.

The speaker’s office has also been conducting weekly oversight meetings every Friday morning with division directors and project managers reporting the status of their budgets, projects and contracts. These meetings have not been open to the public.

Speaker Seth Damon has assigned one of his staff members to each division administering CARES Act funds to offer assistance with gathering information and moving projects along through the Navajo Nation bureaucracy and red tape. In some cases, although it is not clear how many, it appears some entities might be paying out of their own pockets in order to keep projects moving in anticipation of being reimbursed with the budgeted CARES Act monies.

For example, the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority has been working double-time to complete power line and solar projects while awaiting completion of all required documentation and approvals.

On Sept. 6, the president’s office announced, “NTUA connects electricity for over 100 homes using CARES Act funds.” However, on last Friday’s speaker’s office teleconference call, a representative from NTUA confirmed that they have not yet received any of the CARES dollars, but they “intend to be reimbursed.”

On the same call, Kirk confirmed that NTUA is essentially “fronting the money.” NTUA also said they are having some problems with delays in getting rights of way and service line clearances approved, adding to the roadblocks in completing projects. Some projects are also awaiting necessary equipment.

The president’s office also announced last week that the Division of Economic Development, under the leadership of JT Willie, has awarded more than $254,000 in CARES Act funds during the first week of the newly created Business and Artisans Economic Relief Grant Program, which is a significant accomplishment. It is not clear what account that was paid out of since the OOC report states the DED has expended zero dollars.

In a response on Wednesday, Willie provided an update and indicated that his division was prepared and had a back-up plan in place. “As of today a total of $448,300 has been paid from the DED Cares Act for businesses and artists,” said Willie. “We have prepared for a delay in allocation therefore the money has been allocated already to make these first payments. We are staying dedicated to a timeline while the grant processes to DED are finalized this week.”

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