The Dallas City Council approved an audit into the city’s failed $2.3 million lead removal program after The Dallas Morning News investigated its outcome, which left multiple residents exposed to lead.
The Office of the City Auditor’s Fiscal Year 2025 Audit Work Plan, which includes the lead program, was unanimously approved without council discussion at Wednesday’s meeting.
Resident Loucious Miller, 66, whose home was part of the lead program, told the council Wednesday he was enrolled in a different initiative with the Dallas Housing and Community Development in 2017, but the work on his home was not done correctly. He had the same experience with the lead removal program.
“I appreciate the help, but they destroyed my home, and I have been living in my house like this since then,” Miller said with a broken voice. “Come to see what the housing program has done to my house.”
Miller was told about $5,000 would be used to redo his bathroom. He was told that a new subfloor, baseboard and toilet would be installed. Miller said the toilet the contractors installed did not look like a new one. In less than a year, cracks appeared on his floor.
District 4 council member Carolyn King Arnold, who represents Miller, asked him to speak with her and her staff after the meeting.
“I am getting down here speaking to people, trying to get help,” Miller said as he sobbed. “I just want to know why they have done this to me. Please help me.”
The audit will dig into the challenges for the program’s execution and delays, if it kept stakeholders informed, how the program compared to other cities, and if any other grant programs are lagging.
District 13 council member Gay Donnell Willis and District 1 council member Chad West asked city auditor Mark Swann to add the program to his work plan last month and examine it more closely.
The director and the managers in the housing department will assist the auditor in his review and provide any information requested, states an email from the city’s communication department.
There is no timetable for completion of the audit, but the lead program is one of 13 items listed as a priority.
Failed lead removal program
The Dallas Housing and Revitalization Department won a $2.3 million federal grant in 2018 to remove lead from homes. The grant was intended to target homes built before 1978, primarily homes with children under 6 because their health is particularly vulnerable to lead exposure.
More than 90 residents applied. Only 53 homes were inspected, and four residents had contractors remove lead from their homes during the three-year program, The News reported.
The city spent about $400,000 from the grant, and the remaining $1.8 million wasn’t used, according to a report submitted to the federal government earlier this year. The city returned most of the funds, leaving multiple residents exposed to the effects of lead.
The housing department told residents the program was closed due to a lack of certified lead abatement contractors. The city gave The News a different explanation: The program required a standalone approach to administering the grant, which required additional staff time and program requirements.
