TAMPA -- Hillsborough County's Affordable Housing Office consistently ranks among the worst in the nation for distributing federal grant money in a timely fashion, a new audit finds.

The county's Internal Performance Auditor, as part of a seven-month review, found that programs overseen by the office "have historically been plagued with unprincipled management and business practices."

While the 104-page audit covers the period from July 2003 through October 2007, it indicates that problems predated that time period. It attributes mismanagement and poor oversight with the well-chronicled loss of $2-million in federal grant money last year due to failure to commit the money toward projects in a timely fashion.

For program year 2006, the county ranked 535 out of 542 participating agencies in the HOME Investment Partnership Program in the amount of its annual federal grant money allotment it managed to commit on time, having reached just 70.6 percent.

An executive summary lists several problems, which new leadership in the office is working to remedy. Among them:

-- a defective reporting system preventing executive awareness;

-- ineffectual performance management;

-- heavy reliance on limited or perfunctory oversight;

-- poor planning and execution;

-- a lack of formal policies and procedures.

To see the full report, go here.

Bill Varian, Times Staff Writer

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