Maryland, My Maryland

 Balmer Sun, Md. nonprofit receiving $60M in taxpayer funds says it hasn’t completed required audits

A Maryland nonprofit that has received more than $60 million in taxpayer funds since 2022 stated it has yet to complete a required audit of its services, sparking concerns from some accounting experts, according to a Spotlight on Maryland investigation.

Federal regulations require that the Connections Thru Life (CTL) nonprofit, based in Owings Mills, undergo an audit of how it manages $61.4 million in federal taxpayer funds received through the Ryan White HIV program. However, CTL stated on its past three nonprofit tax forms from 2022, 2023 and 2024 that “no audit has been completed” to fulfill the requirement. The organization also states on the three consecutive tax forms that it has not undergone an independent audit of its financial statements, meaning the tax forms have not been verified by a third party.

The lack of oversight furthers transparency concerns about Maryland’s network of taxpayer-funded nonprofits. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent more than $60 million in taxpayer funds for the Ryan White program to the Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD), which chose CTL to take over the program’s fiscal agent duties in 2022, just months after the nonprofit was formed.

The Ryan White program provides medical services and support for those living with HIV. CTL manages the program’s funds in the Baltimore metropolitan area by providing oversight and disbursement of taxpayer money to specific grantees, which includes institutions such as Johns Hopkins University (JHU), as well as local health departments in Harford, Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties.

CTL states on its latest tax form from 2024 that 100% of its revenue and expenses are related to the Ryan White program.

A spokeswoman for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which manages the Ryan White program, said BCHD is charged with ensuring its subrecipients are properly audited.

I'm not going to accuse them of fraud. Yet. Costs of auditing have skyrocketed in recent years thanks to recent legislation that put additional liabilities on auditors, post Enron. Costs for auditing the local water system's books more than doubled in the last 2 years to almost 10% of the total budget. CTL may be looking for alternatives, or just hoping their regulators won't ding them too hard.