DENVER — Denver doesn’t know how much of your tax dollars it’s spending on homelessness and doesn’t have clear safety policies. That’s the finding of the Denver Auditor's report looking into the city's Department of Housing Stability.
The auditor found that the Department of Housing Stability, also known as HOST, is not tracking overall spending on homelessness and cannot effectively “ensure transparency and accountability to residents.”
When the auditor asked the department for overall expenses between January 2022 through March 2024, the department was unable to provide the data after multiple requests.
Using only invoices, the auditor found nearly $150 million in spending.
They said 38% of invoices lacked supporting documentation and they also found invoices paid with duplicate reimbursements.
One member of the auditor committee did not seem impressed with the department’s responses during a meeting Thursday to how they would be more financially accountable.
“That’s not my question, that’s the accounting and bookkeeping. The question is, 'What is management doing to ensure once you have the book keeping straightened out that somebody starts taking a look at it qualitatively?' The books can be straight, but you can still be wasting all kinds of money doing things that are inappropriate,” Jack Blumenthal, an audit committee member, said.
The audit also found the department wasn’t holding contractors accountable and didn’t have adequate safety policies in place.
The contractor receiving the most money, The Salvation Army — which received over $27 million in contracts — wasn't holding up their end of the deal.
Three months into a contract to operate the shelter at the former DoubleTree hotel at Quebec St. and 40th Ave. with a security budget of $807,000, three people were shot inside the shelter and two were killed. The auditor found the Salvation Army didn’t install any additional cameras and no security guards were on site.
The City of Denver had to take over security at the shelter with the help of police.
The Salvation Army also wasn’t in compliance with its contract to not discriminate against the employees it hires. Instead, the Salvation Army handbook said it will follow nondiscrimination law unless it conflicts with religious practice.
An official with HOST said they will have new polices to fix these problems and plans to implement them by April 2025.
They said the audit doesn’t acknowledge the 2,150 people they helped get safely indoors.
Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what's right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.