Federal watchdogs faulted the Bridgeport Housing Authority Tuesday for improperly charging $1.7 million to Washington and for giving employees a “Cadillac” health plan.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of the Inspector General raised the issues in a report.
HUD identified $895,000 of federal money used for ineligible purposes and $790,000 of improperly documented expenses. The federal agency will seek to get the money refunded.
A Cadillac health plan costs more than $10,200 each year for individuals or $27,500 for families. Starting in 2018, insurance companies will include a 40 percent excise tax on such plans as a result of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
“Paying the additional tax would result in fewer funds for housing,” the report said.
Investigators found the housing authority had limited itself “to one vendor and a specific plan” through its collective-bargaining agreements. Authority officials told HUD its health care plan “was generous compared with those of other authorities and private businesses.”
Authority officials are trying to remove the restriction or join the state health care plan, according to the report.
The report also found “a prior executive director promoted all of the janitors to maintenance aides without ensuring they had the skills to perform their new duties.”