When Congress approved President Barack Obama's stimulus legislation in February, there was plenty of legitimate concern about whether the federal government could keep track of all that money and make sure it was spent properly. Apparently we needn't have worried. The Justice Department is threatening to withhold $8.2 million in grants from Baltimore's share of the surplus because it's worried that the city didn't properly account for how it spent federal money - 10 years ago.
Mayor Sheila Dixon had been planning to use the cash to hire police and fund other crime-fighting measures, something the city surely needs. But the Justice Department recently informed the city that it has been red-flagged because of questions about bookkeeping on previous grants, some dating to a time when Kurt Schmoke was mayor, the Orioles were tearing up the American League East and Seinfeld was at the top of the TV ratings. City officials have been scrambling to find receipts, payroll slips, invoices and other records from 1996, 1998 and 2000. They'll probably find them stuck in a closet with some dusty "Macarena" CDs.
City auditors first spotted the issue back in 2002, but even by then, the person in charge of handling them had already been replaced. The federal government started raising the matter in 2003, and the city has worked intermittently to resolve it, even giving back about $150,000 because of incomplete paperwork. But the feds never said anything about restricting future grants until this spring, making the search for records a top priority at a time when the city has plenty of actual top priorities - crime downtown and a budget crisis come to mind - to deal with.
It is certainly important for the city to be able to document that it is spending tax dollars - even those that come in the form of federal grants - wisely and for their intended purpose. If there were a question about how effectively the city is managing grant money now, the Justice Department would be well justified in cutting off the cash. But there isn't. The federal authorities have identified no problems with the work of the officials who currently administer the grants, or, for that matter, with their immediate predecessors.
What purpose is served by withholding the money? It certainly gets the city working faster to resolve questions that have lingered for too long. But it doesn't further the aims of the stimulus plan. It doesn't prevent the city from facing painful cuts, it doesn't provide jobs and it doesn't improve the community.
By all means, Baltimore should continue making sure that money from long ago was spent properly, and officials say they're confident they can satisfy the auditors' requests. But the feds shouldn't withhold cash over ancient history.
