Southwick Housing Authority

This is a Massachusetts State Auditor review of the Southwick Housing Authority, which runs state-aided housing in Southwick.

“The Southwick Housing Authority was established in 1970 pursuant to Chapter 121B of the Massachusetts General Laws as a state-aided housing project composed of 48 elderly (Chapter 667), six family (Chapter 705), and two special needs (Chapter 689) housing units located within Southwick.”

Auditors checked whether the authority followed laws and rules, had sound management controls, and fixed problems found in an earlier audit.

“The objectives of our audit were to determine the Authority’s compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations and to review and analyze its management controls and practices over the following areas and functions for the purpose of determining their adequacy: (1) tenant selection; (2) preparation and reoccupation of vacant units; (3) rent determinations; (4) collectability of accounts receivables; (5) site inspections; (6) payroll, travel, and fringe benefits; (7) inventory controls over property and equipment; (8) contract procurement; (9) cash management and investment practices; (10) DHCD-approved budgets versus actual expenditures; (11) modernization awards; (12) operating subsidies; and (13) the Authority’s funding of local tenant organizations.”

These issues matter because housing-code violations can affect safety and quality of life, and empty apartments left vacant too long can mean lost rent and delayed housing for people who need it.

“By not ensuring that vacant units are reoccupied within DHCD’s timeframe, the Authority lost the opportunity to earn potential rental income and may have deprived, at least temporarily, needy citizens of subsidized housing.”

For a Southwick resident or taxpayer, the audit shows whether public housing is being kept safe, whether apartments are being filled promptly, and whether state funds are being used properly.

“Our audit found that the Authority needs to improve its administrative and fiscal controls over its Local Tenant Organization (LTO) activities.”

The authority fixed some earlier problems, but auditors still found 22 housing-code violations needing correction and $2,344 in tenant-organization spending that was not allowed.

“As of the completion of our audit field work, the Authority had a total of 22 State Sanitary Code violations that must be corrected in order to resolve this issue.”

The authority said it would use available funding to fix the code violations, address slow apartment turnaround with maintenance staff, train tenants on LTO rules, and recover unallowable spending.

“The Board will recover from the LTO $2,344.00 in unallowable items funding during this audit period.”

The most significant finding is that public money for the tenant organization was not properly controlled, exceeded allowed funding levels, was used for unallowable purposes, and was not accurately reported.

“As a result of the Authority’s inadequate controls over LTO activities, the LTO incurred $2,344 in state funds for unallowable purposes during the audit period.”

The Local Tenant Organization, or LTO, is meant to represent tenants when dealing with the housing authority on issues affecting their rights, duties, welfare, or other interests.

“The purpose of an LTO is to represent tenants and residents in dealing with the LHA on matters that affect the rights, status, duties, welfare, or other interests of tenants and their household members.”