CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice took exception to a legislative audit that concluded no homes have been completed under the Rise West Virginia long-term flood relief program.
Justice on Sunday night issued a statement that said “Legislative Auditor is wrong on Rise.”
The governor’s statement continued, “As of today, 18 families have been handed keys to new homes.” It went on to allege that the Legislative Auditor’s report relied on old information.
But during an appearance on MetroNews “Talkline” today, Adjutant Gen. James Hoyer of the West Virginia National Guard said the homes are still in process.
“They’re still in the final phase of the construction sign-off, but there are 18 homes that, hopefully, within the next couple of days will have closed out their final construction review and are turned over — and there’s another five to be done this week as well.”
Hoyer confirmed that those homes are the ones the governor mentioned.
“Those are the homes I just referenced,” he said. “So there are 18 mobile home units that are in their final construction management sign-off process where some families may already be in those but we did not put those out initially because we have a final sign-off process.
“There’s another five in the queue this week. So there are some homes that are being delivered to families or families are moving into.”
Another 106 cases have been assigned to the construction sign-off process, Hoyer said. That process involves building permits, permits for septic tanks and more steps. “There are 106 moving forward in the process that weren’t moving forward before,” Hoyer said.
Major General James Hoyer joins @HoppyKercheval to talk about the status of long-term flood recovery in https://t.co/hOlbKsxNPV: https://t.co/wkudfIAoe1 pic.twitter.com/735lJiQBUk
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) June 25, 2018
The Legislative Auditor released a statement this afternoon saying it stands by its report.
“The Legislative Auditor hopes the Governor is correct that numerous West Virginia families have, in fact, received the keys to a new home,” the statement said.
“However, the Post Audits division must rely on actual documentation to issue findings and to make conclusions.”
The statement issued Monday by the Legislative Auditor acknowledged that the report should have been more clear that it assessed what had happened up until June 1.
Hoyer was named a few weeks ago by Governor Justice as the point man for West Virginia long-term flood relief. Justice said there would be quick results after relief efforts have languished in West Virginia, two years after a devastating flood.
Hoyer said he does not want people to believe progress isn’t being made.
“So there are things moving, and there are things going on. I don’t want the people in West Virginia to get the impression that nothing is happening,” he said.
He worried that the audit left that sense.
“It almost left the perception that nothing is being done, and that is not accurate. There is a lot of work being done and there are, in fact,” Hoyer said.
The audit did not look at work that is moving forward or about housing that’s in process.
But it did conclude that Rise West Virginia had not provided any completed construction for recovering West Virginians.
The audit raised the question after an examination of the payments. Boiled down, the invoices don’t add up to indicate completion of any single home.
“The Legislative Auditor concludes that none of these payments represent a full home reconstruction.
“As such, the Legislative Auditor questions whether any individual homeowner has received full assistance from the Rise West Virginia flood recovery program.”
The statement issued Monday by the Legislative Auditor said the Governor’s Office had been offered three separate opportunities to discuss or dispute aspects of the report but had not, even late last week, raised issues disputing the conclusion about completed homes.
There was no written response by the Justice administration submitted for the audit, although agencies often accept the option to provide their point of view that way. There was also no one from the administration available to speak to lawmakers after the audit was presented Sunday evening.
Hoyer is set to speak at 9 a.m. Tuesday to the Legislature’s Committee on Flooding during interim meetings.
Post Audit Report – RISE West Virginia Flood Recovery Program – https://t.co/Ym7uuxLFII #WVLegis
— WV Legislature (@wvlegislature) June 24, 2018