In the Daily Mail today: The Greene County Sheriff's Office will have to return $214,000 in federal grant money, awarded in 2001 for the purchase of computer equipment and never spent for its intended purpose. Colin DeVries reports:
According to a letter from the federal Department of Justice, the sheriff’s office “drew down” $214,000 of the awarded $214,088 on March 2, 2006 after the grant had been expired.
A closeout report kit was sent to the sheriff’s office in August 2006 . In the report Hussey noted the equipment had not been purchased and there was no method in tracking the redeployment, according to DOJ.
[Sheriff Greg] Seeley had discovered the funding was sitting idly in the sheriff’s office budget and attempted to contact DOJ about the reimbursement process.
In a letter to DOJ, Seeley wrote that “the former sheriff chose to utilize only $6,000 of this tremendous award. Of the $214,088, $208,000 of the grant is in the sheriff’s office account with the county legislature.”
Ariel Zangla-Girard in the Daily Freeman reports that Seeley fought to preserve the grant, which was awarded (and mismanaged) during the tenure of his predecessor, Richard Hussey:
Greene County Sheriff Gregory Seeley said the grant was obtained during the previous sheriff's administration and never spent. He said when he took office and found out about the money, his administration tried to work with the federal government to keep the grant funding and use it for its original purpose.
“We tried everything,” Seeley told county legislators during their Public Safety Committee meeting Monday. He said he was ultimately told if the money was not repaid then his office could lose other federal funding in the future.
