Legislative auditor to probe claims of Urban League misspending

Minnesota's legislative auditor says he'll look into allegations of double-dipping by the Minneapolis Urban League.

Auditor Jim Nobles says his staff will start with a preliminary review to determine whether to go forward with a full-blown investigation or audit.

"Anytime there are allegations about possible misuse of public money by an organization, we take them seriously," Nobles said Thursday. "At this point, they are only allegations. Oftentimes when we do these kinds of reviews ... we find that maybe there was just a misunderstanding."

State Sen. Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake, requested an audit after the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported the Urban League could have been paid twice to do similar work to help struggling high school students. The organization received $800,000 from the Minneapolis school district and $300,000 from the Legislature.

Clinton Collins Jr., the Urban League chairman, said several recent audits of his organization by the Minnesota Department of Education and by the Minneapolis school district raised no red flags.

He also said as part of contract agreements, the agencies paid the Urban League after they reviewed the group's performance on services it delivered.

"The Minnesota Department of Education and the school system each knew we were contracting with the other and they each had the opportunity to audit what we were doing," Collins said. "There has been no one from either entity that has raised a formal complaint of double dipping with us."

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