TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is requiring the City of Tallahassee to repay funds connected to a local lead hazard control project after determining the city failed to meet several federal requirements.
In a letter dated May 26 from HUD, officials revealed that costs tied to work conducted on Holton Street “are ineligible for reimbursement under the grant.”
Furthermore, the agency said that the city failed to provide adequate records verifying tenant income eligibility and occupancy requirements tied to the grant project.
HUD went on to reveal in its letter that city officials could not confirm the project prioritized households with children under six years old, a core objective of the federal lead hazard reduction program.
The letter comes weeks after Assistant City Manager Christian Doolin told city officials in an email obtained by WCTV that HUD named Tallahassee’s Lead Hazard Reduction grant “high risk.” In that email, HUD raised concerns about unit eligibility and contractor expense justification, placing the grant under HUD investigation.
The May 26 letter stated that the city must repay all grant funds associated with the project, including staff work-time costs.
“HUD reserves the right to identify additional ineligible costs upon further review,” the agency wrote in its letter. The letter does not identify a total amount the city must repay, though $1.6 million has been spent on the overall program and the city was already reimbursed $1.03 million in the past.
The reimbursement decision comes after an early March monitoring visit and a review of additional documentation submitted by the city, per HUD.
However, the city’s efforts were not enough to prevent HUD from requiring repayment.
Previously, Tallahassee City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow made a motion to require City Manager Reese Goad to resign, in part due to HUD’s initial investigation.
The commission declined to vote Goad out, and Mayor John Dailey and others pointed out that Matlow falsely accused one of Goad’s in-laws of being involved in the “high-risk” program.
The mayor’s call for the city’s inspector general to investigate gave rise to an ethics complaint, while the mayor said Matlow might’ve opened himself and/or the city up to a civil lawsuit.
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At a May 13 city commission meeting, Assistant City Manager Christian Doolin said the contractor for the lead program didn’t have the proper EPA certification, but that when the problem was uncovered, the contractor did travel to Jacksonville to receive the training.
In HUD’s May 26 letter, the agency determined some work had been done without the proper certification.
“Based on HUD’s review of the records provided, it appears that not all firms and workers involved in the Holton Street Project possessed the required certifications or qualifications pursuant to 40 CFR 745, subparts E and L, cited by the NOFO, necessary to perform work under the grant during the time the work was performed,” wrote Kennedi Rice, a Government Technical Representative.
During the commission’s May 13 meeting, much was made of the cost of each lead door removal, for which the contractor charged $8,400. Doolin previously said another contractor who didn’t qualify wanted to charge $9,000.
However, it was the commission itself that actually broke with its traditional tact and approved the one bidder who made it to the final round of analysis, without submitting another request for proposal to generate further bids.
Doolin said at the end of the RFP process, there was only one bidder.
“The city commission approved the procurement process,” he said.
— Matt Hoffmann (@ByMattHoffmann) May 13, 2026
Also on May 13, City Commissioner Diane Williams-Cox said she knew the contractor personally.
“I’d encourage us to practice some restraint. We have people who appreciate them removing the lead,” she said at the time.
Ultimately, city staff themselves decided to suspend the program while the HUD investigation was underway. A restart date has not been provided.
City Commissioner Curtis Richardson said on May 13 that many of the claims were “unfounded.”
Commissioner Richardson: It has bothered me as the dean of the commission that we’ve heard some very major issues and people’s reputations have been put on the line.
“It’s been unfounded,” he said.
— Matt Hoffmann (@ByMattHoffmann) May 13, 2026
Read HUD’s full May 26 letter below:
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