HUD demands $650,000 from West Palm Beach

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development wants West Palm Beach to fork over nearly $650,000 for failing to prove it used taxpayer funds to perserve low income housing, WPTV reported. The city requested federal funding to finance low income housing projects, but HUD said the money was not properly administered.

West Palm Beach officials sent documentation of the expenditures to the federal agency, but HUD said the paperwork did not satisfy requirements and does not provide sufficient proof that the money was used properly.

The money came from taxpayers and was spent through Redemptive Life Fellowship Church. The city blamed the accounting problems on the church but said it should have done a better job tracking the non-profit in recent years. In December, the church was charged with mishandling $2 million originally allocated for low income housing. [WPTV]