$88 million for Navajo housing: Where did it go?

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Breadsprings/Church Rock Delegate Ernest Yazzie has asked the Navajo Nation Office of the Auditor General to conduct financial audits of Navajo Tribal Utility Authority and Navajo Housing Authority.

In a memo to Auditor General Ryan Claw, Yazzie asked that the audits be conducted in cooperation with the appropriate federal agencies.

"I have not seen any housing improvements since 1996 to date," he said of NHA. "Where is the federal funding going? Hopefully, your audits will answer these questions."

U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi, R-1st District, announced in June 2004 that the Navajo Nation had been awarded $88 million in Indian Housing Block Grant funds, made possible through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The announcement came after a May 2004 field hearing in Tuba City, attended by members of Congress and representatives of several Indian tribes, to discuss severe housing conditions faced by Native Americans.

At a recent NHA FlexCrete house unveiling in Ganado, Renzi said another congressional hearing is planned at Camp Verde in August, hosted by the Yavapai-Apache Tribe. He added that his legislation, H.R. 797, provided that housing funds will now be divided according to the size of the tribe.

"This year, the Navajo Housing Authority will go from about $60 million in funding to $84 million in funding because we were able to pass this legislation," Renzi said.

He also sponsored legislation signed into law in December clarifying the intent of NAHASDA and allowing tribes unrestricted access to new funds, even if they still retain income from previous years.

NHA Performance
Yazzie said in his memo "I would like to know how the multimillion dollar funding has assisted our Navajo people within the last few years. There continues to be a dire need for better housing for our Navajo people despite the annual funding from the federal government. "

NHA'S 2005 Annual Performance Report to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development states that the NHA Grants Management Department is now monitoring all NAHASDA activities to ensure that all funded activities within the Navajo Nation Indian Housing Plan are compliant with NAHASDA federal regulations and that projects are properly closed out.

The grants department was implemented two years after NAHASDA legislative action, according to NHA. "To date, this department is an evolving grant program established to carry out monitoring and grant compliance responsibilities," NHA said.

The performance report stated that the Navajo Nation five-year goals and objectives are not on schedule due to project planning and implementation delays, attaining satisfactory compliance with environmental requirements for certain projects, the lengthy/timely process of Navajo Nation land clearances with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and internal tribal processes, as well as construction delays.

"There also were some sub-recipients who did not timely obligate their funds or their projects were stagnate; this resulted in the NHA having to recapture NAHASDA funding and subsequently reprogramming to other organizations in order to comply with NAHASDA regulations of obligation funding within two years," NHA said.

A comprehensive assessment is to be conducted to analyze NAHASDA programs successes, shortcomings, and to identify opportunities.

NTUA concerns
In reference to NTUA, Yazzie said, "I would like to know what reorganization has taken place regarding the tribal enterprise. Several recommendations were given to the board of directors during a recent public hearing in Window Rock."

NTUA conducted the public hearing just days prior to implementation of a proposed"temporary" 7.2 percent surcharge, drawing a negative reaction from the packed house.

NTUA management recommended a surcharge on electricity to recover the $2.8 million financial loss it expects to incur as a result of the closure of Peabody Western Coal Co.'s Black Mesa mining operations.

Rather than implementing a full electric base rate increase of around 20 percent, NTUA proposed the "temporary" surcharge, but could not give the crowd a timeframe as to how long "temporary" might be. Later, the NTUA board tabled the matter.

Fort Defiance Delegate Larry Anderson has since proposed legislation establishing a moratorium on NTUA's ability to impose rate increases and has called for creation of a citizens utility commission.

Also, he said during a recent Economic Development Committee meeting, "No independent studies that can be independently reviewed and relied on were conducted on different types of methodologies for the collection of the surcharge."

Yazzie told Auditor General Claw: "As an elected official, I am very concerned that these important issues are not being addressed. I believe that with your assistance in auditing these entities, many of these issues can be addressed."