On July 20, the Office of the Auditor of Public Accounts notified the Governor’s office and the Kentucky General Assembly it would be conducting a “special examination” of the monies associated with and pertaining to the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund and the Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund.
Accepted and administered through the Public Protection Cabinet, the all-but-audit will take a look at both the funds collected and dispersed from December 11, 2021, through June 30, 2023, which as of July totaled north of $52 million for west Kentucky, and more than $13 million for east Kentucky.
During last Thursday’s “Team Kentucky” update, Governor Andy Beshear called both heavily-publicized organizations “the most transparent disaster recovery funds that he’d ever seen.”
However, Beshear said it was fair to ask “why,” with all of these means available and subject to open records requests and full reporting, is the audit coming now?
Beshear said it’s because “there’s an election” four months away, and Auditor Mike Harmon is now freed from his race for the Republican gubernatorial primary. And yet, Beshear noted conflict remains, as Harmon was in person during last week’s revelation of Daniel Cameron’s running mate and choice for Lieutenant Governor in Henderson’s Robby Mills.
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The governor further noted that attacking these funds in the name of politics “is wrong,” namely because of the amenities it has provided in the last 18 months, which includes:
— More than $1.2 million in funeral expenses for east and west Kentuckians
— More than $9.6 million for west Kentucky’s insured and uninsured homeowners and renters
— More than $4 million for west Kentucky’s farmers
— More than $10 million to west Kentuckians who qualified for FEMA assistance
— More than $18.6 million for the building and repair of 300 west Kentucky homes
— More than $8.4 million for west Kentuckians’ life essentials and unmet needs through long-term recovery groups
— More than $4 million in immediate relief to flooded families of east Kentucky
— And matching access to low-interest disaster loans from the US Small Business Administration for all impacted in these disasters.
What’s more; Beshear argues this type of audit “isn’t required by law” — because neither fund qualifies as a for-profit or not-for-profit organization.
Simply put, they are piggy banks for those in need.
This past February, Associated Press government reporter Bruce Schreiner did note that State Treasurer Allison Ball’s office had canceled payments on 192 checks valued at $192,000 from the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund, in what were notifications of misdirected payments.
Beshear said then that every check sent came from addresses and information collected either by FEMA officials or an insurance company, and that those payments were verified through those systems.
There is no set date on when the APA’s examination of the funds will be completed.