Weatherization funds may overwhelm groups

WASHINGTON, July 15 (UPI) -- U.S. community groups receiving billions of federal stimulus dollars for low-income weatherization programs could be overwhelmed, critics of the programs say.

Funding for low-income housing weatherization programs will zoom from $227 million to $5 billion, and some state officials and members of Congress are worried the non-profit social service agencies that screen the applicants and hire the contractors to perform the work may not be up to the task, USA Today reported Wednesday.

The newspaper noted that oversight and management problems within such programs have been unearthed by auditors in five states since 2004. The community groups use the funding to install energy-efficient heating or cooling systems and other improvements to lower the utility bills of low-income households.

"When you throw 25 times as much money at this program, you're going to lose 20 percent to 30 percent of it to fraud," warned stimulus critic Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.

U.S. Energy Department officials, however, say they are requiring states to hold back half of the funding until recipients show they're properly using the money, USA Today reported.