JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As the investigation into where the money from the federal government to Eureka Gardens has gone, money meant to help with the management and upkeep of the complex, News4Jax investigative team obtained new documents outlining how Reverend Richard Hamlet and his Global Ministries Foundation spent millions of taxpayer dollars in Jacksonville.
The 2014 independent audit for the foundation's seven Jacksonville properties compared to the 2013 audit shows a nearly $600,000 distribution taken by Hamlet's company, a registered nonprofit.
Recommended Videos
So residents and News4Jax are looking into where that money is going, and where it isn't.
Eureka Gardens had been making daily headlines for unsanitary living conditions and hundreds of code violations found in a two-day enforcement sweep in October, issues that were supposed to be fixed with those federal dollars.
Gas leaks and carbon monoxide scares sickened at least four residents and brought the city's fire department and HAZMAT crews to the scene.
There were also numerous police call outs for what some residents have called the area's notorious crime problems.
Fire, safety, health services and code enforcement are four city services that have been used extensively to deal with the issues at the complex, which Duval County taxpayers pay for through their property taxes. Those are taxes that Hamlet's company does not pay as a registered nonprofit.
The deal that allowed Hamlet's company to come to Jacksonville in 2012 was solely approved by then Mayor Alvin Brown.
It was a deal that city leaders said sidestepped protocol. It also cost taxpayers an estimated $250,000 annually or $750,000 over three years in uncharged property taxes.
The previous owners of Hamlet's seven Jacksonville complexes paid property taxes but since GMF is a registered nonprofit, Hamlet's company does not.
In the 2014 audit, GMF did take a distribution of $581,752, which was profit for the company.
When asked via email, Hamlet said they were entitled to take the distribution as a return on investment. That his properties are profit-motivated Section 8 affordable housing properties.
That distribution is concerning for City Council member Anna Broshce, who's also the vice chair of finance for the city of Jacksonville.
By profession, Broshce was a certified public accountant for more than 20 years with a specialty in auditing.
She also was part of the City Council team that walked Eureka Gardens during the city's two-day code enforcement sweep
"With what I saw and the massive need for repairs, it's hard for me to believe that there are almost $600,000 in distributions, more than what's being spent on repairs and maintenance across seven properties," Broshce said.
In 2014, the audit shows $442,965 spent on repairs and maintenance spread across all seven properties, of which Eureka Gardens accounts for two.
That's just 6 percent of the 7 million taxpayer dollars from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is a 50 percent improvement spent on repairs and maintenance found in the 2013 audit, which was $242,757 or 3 percent of the $7 million.
Both those figures are significantly less than the distribution taken by the Global Ministries Foundation.
"Compared to what I saw, there's so much more that needs to be done in order to have just adequate living conditions for the residents," Broshce said.
Conditions Hamlet apologized for and promised to fix since facing city hall and Eureka Gardens residents on Monday as a result of News4Jax ongoing investigation.
When pressed further about the distribution taken by the Global Ministries Foundation Hamlet explained via email that, "Monies taken must strictly conform to its charitable purpose as approved by the IRS. Excess monies go into funding large social services and programming for our residents, ‘Like we do at Eureka for example.'"
Services the tenants of Eureka Gardens deny have ever been provided by the Global Ministries Foundation.
"No he doesn't. He doesn't care about us. He only cares about himself," Tracy Grant, with the Eureka Gardens tenants association, said.
While meeting with HUD and city officials Monday, Hamlet agreed to pay for those fire call outs to the complex last week due to the gas leak. He also agreed to pay for the medical transport for the four residents who needed help during that call.
When pressed for examples via email about the social services Hamlet said he was providing to residents he did not respond.
Before the code enforcement raid Pastor Mark Griffin with Wayman Ministries and several local businesses stepped up to bring a playground to the estimated 400 children living at Eureka Gardens
Together they came together and helped to raise $95,000 to make that happen. It will be installed in December.
When asked if Hamlet's company ever contributed to that effort, Rev. Griffin said that no he hadn't.