BALTIMORE (WBFF) — A Maryland nonprofit currently facing a series of transparency concerns was chosen by the Baltimore City government in 2021 to help manage millions of federal tax dollars after no other organization bid for the job, according to a Spotlight on Maryland investigation.
The Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) has sent about $57 million tax dollars since September 2022 to the Connections Thru Life (CTL) nonprofit. CTL receives the tax dollars through its role as the fiscal agent of the federal Ryan White HIV program in the Baltimore metropolitan area.
Some experts in nonprofit accounting practices expressed concerns about CTL’s transparency issues, including its delayed tax reports, its ties to a for-profit firm and tax liens filed against its only disclosed employee. The experts also questioned the way that CTL gained its contract with Baltimore City.
BCHD released a request for proposal for the Ryan White program fiscal agent services in December 2021. A spokeswoman for BCHD told Spotlight on Maryland that “only two vendors applied” and “one withdrew late in the process” — leaving CTL as the only option.
BCHD’s request for proposal stated that “the successful bidder will have extensive experience complying with state and federal funding reporting and accounting requirements, will receive and disburse funding to sub-recipients at the direction of the Ryan White Program.”