BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)- News 4 is working to learn more about a big debt owed to the City of Buffalo. They City’s Comptroller said the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority, BMHA, owes the city millions of dollars.
“Taxpayers fronted this money, it never got paid in return from the BMHA,” said Comptroller Mark Schroeder.
His office decided to look into BMHA after it asked the Common Council for a $250,000 grant on March 8.
“Soon as I knew that the Council was putting in for a request for money, that’s when we decided to research just to make sure that everything was going well,” said Schroeder.
He sent a letter to the Common Council that said his records show BMHA owes the city about $3.1 million.
Comptroller Schroeder said BMHA owes $1.9 million for “bulk natural gas for heating BMHA buildings for 2005-2008” and $1.1 million for police services. The remaining money is owed for funds provided by other city departments.
“A department or an entity, they should do the billing and treasury should collect, it’s simple not hard,” said Schroeder. “If that’s not happening right now, and it’s not, then somebody needs to make the provisions to make it happen.”
He said it’s a problem that may go back at least two years.
Schroder showed us a letter his office sent to Director of Treasury Michael Seaman 2014. It says from 2004 to 2008 the BMHA, “under paid Gas Utility invoices due to the City of Buffalo by $1,864,491.20.”
It goes on to say “Please inform us of the actions planned to collect the balance due and let us know how we assistance in your efforts to collect the balance due.”
Schroeder said his office didn’t get a response.
We confirmed with BMHA that Seaman is also a Chairman of the board for BMHA. We reached out the City to talk to Seaman and didn’t get a response. BMHA was not available to comment on Wednesday.
We asked Schroeder who is responsible for making sure that money comes in.
“The responsibility ultimately really would be with those who have to manage,” said Schroeder. “The managers of the BMHA is the Mayor, and the Common Council. They created this authority, they have a responsibly for it.
Schroeder says in the next few weeks his office plans to do an audit to look at how collections are being done.
The Common Council said it’s also trying to come up with a way to fix the system.
