Comptroller: Housing Authority owes Milwaukee about $5.1 million; recommends tighter oversight

MILWAUKEE — City Comptroller Bill Christiansen told the Common Council's Steering and Rules Committee on Feb. 17 that the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM) owed the city roughly $5.1 million when a withheld 2024 pilot payment is included, and he urged clearer agreements, centralized collections and tighter controls over access to the city's financial system.

Christiansen said his office found no evidence that HACM misused the $9,000,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds the city awarded to HACM in April 2022 for construction at Westlawn. But, he said, the city's records show $4,100,000 in outstanding amounts aside from the pilot payment: about $531,000 in accounts receivable and about $3,600,000 in "unreimbursed reimbursables" tied to positions that were on the city payroll in name only.

"Our review did not encounter any evidence that these funds were used for anything but the authorized purpose of construction activities at Westlawn," Christiansen said. "Excluding the pilot payment, there's currently $4,100,000 owed to the city by HACM."

Why it matters: These unreimbursed reimbursables arise from a long-standing arrangement dating to the…