Athol Housing Authority

This is a state audit of selected Athol Housing Authority activities from December 1, 2007 through December 31, 2009.

“In accordance with Chapter 11, Section 12, of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor conducted an audit of certain activities of the Athol Housing Authority for the period December 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009.”

The audit checked whether the housing authority had proper controls, followed program rules, and fixed problems found in an earlier audit.

“The objectives of our audit were to assess the adequacy of the Authority’s management control system for measuring, reporting, and monitoring the effectiveness of its programs, and to assess compliance with laws, rules, and regulations applicable to each program.”

Vacant public housing units meant lost rent and slower access to housing for people who could have moved in.

“During the period December 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009, the Authority lost the opportunity to earn an additional $25,490 in potential rental income.”

If you live in or need public housing, the key issue is that apartments were not being turned around quickly enough for new tenants.

“Our review revealed that it took the Authority an average of 128 days to occupy 30 vacant apartments.”

One old problem was fixed: employee retirement withholding errors were repaid and corrected. But long vacancy delays continued, and W-2 tax reporting problems were newly found.

“Our follow-up audit revealed that as of March 31, 2009, the employees had repaid the local retirement system the total amount of $953, and the calculations for retirement withholdings are now being calculated correctly.”

The authority was told to speed up apartment turnover and correct the wrong W-2 forms for affected employees.

“The Authority should submit corrected copies of its IRS filings for calendar years 2008 and 2009, issue corrected W-2 Forms to the employees whose taxable income was misreported, and ensure that all future W-2 Forms are prepared correctly.”

The report is significant because the same vacancy problem from the prior audit was still unresolved, and the delay had gotten worse in both days vacant and potential rent lost.

“Our follow-up review disclosed that the Authority’s ability to reoccupy vacant units within DHCD’s guidelines remains an issue.”

A W-2 is the yearly tax form employers give workers showing taxable wages and taxes withheld; the audit found some of these forms had incorrect amounts.

“The W-2 form is a tax statement that represents taxable income earned and income taxes withheld from the employee’s wages during each calendar year.”