Mayor Abraham D. Beame says that anti-poverty funds released to the city last year by the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) but not fully distributed to the local anti-poverty agencies, were intended to cover an outstanding deficit incurred by the city and were not for the funding of new projects. The Mayor made that explanation in reply to an inquiry from Sen. Jacob K. Javits (R.NY) who was initially involved in securing the funds for the city and requested information on their ultimate disposition.
Copies of the letters exchanged between Javits and Beame last May were released to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today by the Senator’s office in response to a telephone inquiry by the JTA as to what happened to the funds. (See story in Oct. 23 Daily News Bulletin)
In a letter to Beame last May 6. Javits referred to a news article published Dec. 22. 1973, stating that “the funds released by the OEO had been due and owing to the city anti-poverty programs and, in fact had been allocated to specific local anti-poverty agencies.”
GRANT MONEY WAS MISINTERPRETED
Beame, in a reply dated May 21. said that the OEO grant, amounting to $6.219,031, was awarded on the basis of a successful claim by the city for monies expended in previous fiscal years. “These expenditures had been formerly disallowed by the OEO which resulted in a substantial deficit for the fiscal year 1971,” Beame wrote. “Hence, this grant was not meant for the funding of new projects but was intended to cover an outstanding deficit (as) clearly stated in the Grant Award.”
According to Beame, “The city’s Council Against Poverty and Community Development Agency misinterpreted the grant as new project money and issued letters of intent to fund a variety of community organizations on that basis….This, despite the serious deficit situation, the city agreed to honor most of these commitments and distribute funds for the period covering Jan. 1,1974 through the close of the fiscal year, June 30, 1974.”
A list of 18 agencies and programs that received OEO funds during that six-month period, made available to the JTA by Javits’ office, indicated that the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty was the recipient of $190,000, one-half of what would have been a yearly allocation of $377,500.
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