Pr. George's housing chief: $5 million in fed money is secure

With one day to spare, Prince George's County officials said they managed to submit required data to the federal government Friday on how they plan to spend more than $5 million in affordable housing money.

The funds at stake come from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's HOME Investment Partnerships Program, known as HOME. Prince George's had to let HUD know by the end of the week how it planned to spend $5.17 million in grants, or the money would have been reclaimed and dispursed among about 650 participating jurisdictions.

Reached by phone, James E. Johnson, acting director of the county's department of housing and community development, said Friday that the county had finished updating a HUD database with the required information on planned housing projects.

"We have gotten everything in the system," Johnson said. "We made the deadline."

UPDATE: HUD officials are still working to confirm the agreements the county made with contractors on their end, but HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan said no funds would be reclaimed in the meantime.

He said HUD had received assurances from the county that $5.2 million had been committed, and that the county is in the process of committing another $1.7 million, drawing on funds that were not due to expire.

There is no set timeframe for the verification process, HUD officials said.