Auditor reports wrongdoing in Katrina cottage program

• By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Oct 8, 2008 - Page: 13A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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The embattled Katrina cottage program — already awash with delays — now is beset with allegations of wrongdoing, Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot told lawmakers Tuesday.

Theriot refused to reveal the nature of the allegations, including whether they might lead to criminal charges. He said a report will be released in two to three months.

Meanwhile, an official with the Louisiana Recovery Authority assured lawmakers that the program is moving forward after being stalled for three years.

“We understand that this program is way overdue, but we’ve made considerable progress,” Wil Jacobs, the LRA’s housing policy director, told the Legislative Audit Advisory Council.

Legislators made it clear that progress in the delay-fraught program needs to be rapid.

“To me, this is Road Home déjà vu,” said state Rep. Neil Abramson, D-New Orleans, referring to another state housing program with delay issues.

The cottages arose from a $388 million alternative housing pilot program funded by the federal government after the 2005 storms.

Louisiana received a $74.5 million grant to build 500 cottages in the areas affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The cottages, designed to serve as long-term housing, are supposed be two-bedroom and three-bedroom units. They will have steel frames.

Approved sites for the cottages include two locations in Baton Rouge — north of the Bon Carré Business Center on Florida Boulevard and at the corner of Prescott Boulevard and Plank Road.

Mississippi built more than 1,600 homes with its share of the alternative housing pilot grant. Louisiana has yet to produce one.

The Louisiana Housing Finance Agency originally had control of the cottage program. The LRA took over in March and promised a fresh start.

Jacobs said a number of hurdles must be overcome in building the cottages, including obtaining properties and getting environmental approval to build on sites. He said cottages should be built at Jackson Barracks by August.

Abramson questioned whether the state missed the window of opportunity to build the type of housing that was needed three years ago.