The Kentucky Auditor has released the results of a special examination of the finances, internal policies and controls for the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund and the Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund.
Earlier this year, the Legislative Oversight and Investigation Committee requested that Auditor Mike Harmon’s office conduct a special investigation into the accounts after he was learned that some Kentuckians who did not reside in impacted areas received checks from the tornado relief fund.
Following a thorough examination, it was determined that a small number of inappropriate payments were made from the tornado relief fund—there were $239,785 in erroneous payments made out of $42.3 million total expenditures. That accounts for an error rate of 0.57 percent.
Some of those payments included duplicate payments, people who received payments that were later deemed ineligible, and overpayments, the majority of which pertained to the $1,000 Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund Second Assistance Payments. The reports states that Most of the inappropriate Tornado Relief Fund Second Assistance Payments were issued to individuals who claimed damage to property outside the designated disaster area. These payments were based on FEMA verified data which incorrectly indicated these individuals were eligible.
For the Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund, the Auditor’s Office did not find any inappropriate payments out of $5.3 million total expenditures.
The special examination identified that for the Tornado Relief Fund, 194 checks totaling $200,000 were cancelled because the recipient rejected the payment. As of September 8, 1,706 checks remained outstanding that had been issued prior to June 30.