Records Sought of Texas City’s Use of Ike Funds

A Houston-area city has been trying to produce records showing how $2 million in federal recovery money was spent after 2008’s Hurricane Ike.

The Galveston County Daily News reported Monday that poor record keeping in La Marque has administrators scrambling to account for the funds.

City Councilman James Osteen says a committee he leads to investigate management of Federal Emergency Management Funds has not yet met. Osteen said he’s waiting for the city’s FEMA representative to provide details on the financial records.

A 2009 audit revealed La Marque wrongly put FEMA money for Ike recovery into the city’s general fund – a practice that continues.

Osteen says FEMA might require the Ike money to be returned if La Marque can’t produce records of how the funds were spent.