Macon City Council Upset with Vacant Housing Report

After looking through the city audit, Macon city council members want answers about whether or not HUD grant money was misspent by the Economic Community Development Department.

The finance report received criticism from council, and created more questions than answers.

“I was disappointed in the presentation. It was difficult to get answers to very important questions,” said Councilman Tom Ellington.

Questions revolving around HUD grant money the city used to maintain houses that were unsold. Macon City Council received a break down of the Economic and Community Development expenses and found glaring issues with how grant money is being spent.  According to the report vandalism has taken a toll on the houses. The house on 588 Hanson St. is worth an estimated $60,000, but the city paid $68,000 to fix damages due to vandalism.

“That’s just one of the problems being stuck with these houses which happened when the housing market crashed. We need to get out of that business all together for the time being,” said Ellington.

The city used HUD grant money to maintain utilities, security, and insurance. Administration hopes HUD will give a special waiver to allow these expenses to be covered by the grant money. HUD is requiring the city to separate the costs into two groups, holding costs, or money used for regular upkeep and utilities, and repair costs.