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Resident asks why $200,000 was paid to private company; staff says it's CDBG pass-through
Summary
A Marion resident questioned ledger entries showing $200,000 paid to 'Hoth Flats'; city staff said the payments are reimbursements from a federal community development block grant funneled through the state to the developer, not general city taxpayer dollars.
During the first public forum, resident Leon Palison asked why the city paid a private company called Hoth Flats roughly $200,000 in recent payments and asked for clarification about whether taxpayer dollars were being used.
"Why are we paying a private company $200,000 this month?" Palison asked, noting the ledger entries and asking staff to point him to supporting information.
A city staff member replied that the amounts Palison saw are payments from a federal community development block grant (CDBG) that the state funnels through to the city and then to the developer as reimbursements. "It's actually a pass through grant, so all of that money is actually being funneled from the federal. It's community development block grant dollars," the staff member said, adding that the state pays the city and the city pays the developer.
The staff member emphasized that these payments are reimbursements under the grant and are not payments from the city's general taxpayer revenue. Council and staff did not provide further documentation at the meeting; the resident said he was reviewing the city's ledger and sought public documentation of the transactions.
