City to return some Weed & Seed funds to DOJ


The Henderson City Council will be refunding approximately $30,000 in Weed & Seed funds to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The refund includes $12,713 for the 2006 program year and $17,263 for the 2007 program year.

According to documentation, including budget ordinances provided by the City of Henderson for the March 23, 2009 regular short meeting, the money will be reimbursed from tax refund revenue from the Capital Project General Fund Budget for the 2006 money and general fund monies for the 2007 amount.

The Weed & Seed program used $108,794 of a $175,000 grant in 2006. The balance of the grant will be retained by the federal government. In 2007, the program was $6,622 over a budget of $200,000.

According to Henderson City Manager Ray Griffin, the US Department of Justice conducted an audit on two [Weed & Seed] grants this summer and had “findings on expenditures”.

Griffin said that some findings were “mitigated”, while “some were not”.

The findings that Griffin referred to were expenses that were not allowed by the grant and had to be returned by the city to the federal government.

Griffin characterized the set of ordinances as an “instrument to balance the account and close the grant for two program years.”

The provided documentation does not specify which expenditures were not allowed. Home in Henderson has requested a copy of the DOJ audit from the Henderson municipal government.

The ordinances passed without opposition, with council member Mike Rainey absent from voting.