[StBernard] State of Louisiana May Withhold $3 Million in Payments to ICF International

[Westley Annis]

State of Louisiana May Withhold $3 Million in Payments to ICF International


BATON ROUGE, La. (April 10, 2008) - The state of Louisiana may withhold more than $3 million from Road Home contractor ICF International if it does not correct state-identified findings on more than 600 closed applicant files in the next 14 days.

ICF has until April 24, 2008 to address state-identified compliance and documentation findings in 607 files in accordance with quality assurance and control measures or the state will withhold $5,495 for each applicant file with a remaining finding, the state told ICF in a letter on Tuesday. 

ICF requested an extension to correct these problems as of March 31, 2008, which the state had granted.

As of today, the state would withhold $3,335,465 on ICF's next invoice for management fees. In 2007, the state withheld $125,000 from ICF International for failure to meet agreed-upon performance measures. On May 8, the state will withhold $800,000 from ICF if it cannot validate that it properly closed files in resolution from 2007. The state addresses performance issues with ICF when paying invoices for contract management. 

"It is critical that ICF follow each federal guideline and Road Home regulation to the letter of the law and provide necessary documentation in all applicant files. The American taxpayers provided the state with billions in rebuilding funds and Louisiana cannot afford to squander their trust," said Paul Rainwater, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA). "We will work with ICF to ensure that all necessary regulations are met; however, moving forward the company will not be granted months-long extensions to meet the very basic expectations of its contract."

"We will restore public trust in the Road Home program by fixing lingering problems, being firm with the contractor and injecting transparency into the process," Rainwater said.

Between March 2007 and December 2007, Office of Community Development (OCD) staff reviewed Road Home files closed between January and June of 2007. The review was to ensure that ICF complied with federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) regulations and followed Road Home policies and procedures. OCD's review also was to assure that each file contained the proper documentation of how compensation amounts were awarded.

OCD identified 1,181 files containing issues and notified ICF of these problems as they were discovered. ICF resolved problems in 574 of these files. 

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated South Louisiana, claiming 1,464 lives, destroying more than 200,000 homes and 18,000 businesses. The Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) is the planning and coordinating body that was created in the aftermath of these storms to lead one of the most extensive rebuilding efforts in the world. The LRA is a 33-member body which is coordinating across jurisdictions, supporting community recovery and resurgence, ensuring integrity and effectiveness, and planning for the recovery and rebuilding of Louisiana. 

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