Tulsa city council approves payment to federal government

Tulsa taxpayers are on the hook for a half million dollars owed the federal government. The Tulsa City Council approved the first installment of the payment Thursday night. <br/><br/>The money was spent

Friday, September 30th 2005, 6:38 am

By: News On 6

Tulsa taxpayers are on the hook for a half million dollars owed the federal government. The Tulsa City Council approved the first installment of the payment Thursday night.

The money was spent by Neighborhood Housing Services, which received a federal grant approved by the city. But the fed's didn't approve the charity's accounting of its spending, so the money has to be paid back.

Mayorâ€™s chief of staff Clay Bird: "They don't have the accounting for those funds and what they were spent on, some of it may have been spent on good things, and legitimate things, very well could have been, but we don't have the accounting for it so you don't know."

The money was spent more than five years ago. Neighborhood Housing Services is still in operation, but no longer receives grant money through the city.