The Federal Transit Administration on Thursday approved the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s plan to correct its relocation services following a July report critical of the rail agency's handling of payments to those displaced by the transit line.
In February 2018, HART discovered irregularities in its relocation program and reported them to the FTA. A federal grand jury early this year subpoenaed records of the agency, including those dealing with its relocation services.
In May 2019, the FTA audited 100 of the 108 files on relocation, concluding in July that HART had not followed federal law and many of its records were incomplete. The FTA required HART to submit a corrective action plan.
“They approved our plan with some comments,” said Dylan Jones, HART'S director of property acquisitions and relocations. “We're adding those comments to the plan, but they're pretty minor comments.”
HART could not be immediately reached to disclose the FTA comments.
Jones said because the audit of the files is not complete, the department is still unsure if it overpaid or underpaid businesses and tenants for their relocation.
“As we interview all the relocated parties, we're going to determine whether there were overpayments [or there] were underpayments,” he said. “Unfortunately, I don't think the statute gives us any power to go back and take back overpayments, but certainly with the underpayments we will make sure that there's remediation done ... ."
Jones told Honolulu City Council members that there are now processes in place to ensure the relocation-related errors are not repeated.
HART is currently handling 25 active relocation files, which Jones said was being worked on “by a subcontractor who has extensive experience in the Uniform Relocation Assistance Act.” The act is intended to provide fair compensation when the government acquires property for public use.
Jones estimated that HART has spent about $14 million on relocation-related costs for the rail project, not including land purchases. HART has until Sept. 30, 2020 to complete all corrective actions.
HART is currently testing its trains between its operating center in Pearl City and the Kroc Center in Kapolei seven days a week. It aims to begin service on the first section of the troubled $9 billion rail line by next year.
