Better Late Than Never!

Recovery.gov has a lot of interesting information posted. One tidbit concerns the amount of reporting that has been done, and how much of it was late.

As you are probably aware, the original deadline for Section 1512 reporting was October 10. The feds said that was the absolute deadline, with no exceptions except for federally-declared disasters. No extensions, no exceptions. Then the deadline was extended to the 20th, probably so that the systems involved would not crash (We had an office pool on when Recovery.gov would crash. I picked October 9.), or because someone in a position of authority realized that most reporting entities would not be ready.

So here are some numbers on reports submitted by recipients for the 1st quarterly reporting period:

All Contracts - 13,080 reports, $2,446,306,574 in total fed ARRA $ rec'd
All Grants - 142,825 reports, $34,177,542,918 in total fed ARRA $ rec'd
All Loans - 710 reports, $64,810,668.15 in total fed ARRA $ rec'd

These were listed as late - the reports were submitted after the 10th:

Late Contracts - 3948 (30%), $648,075,223.80 (26%)
Late Grants - 12,817 (9%), $3,536,965,543 (10%)
Late Loans - 238 (34%), $20,115,410.69 (31%)

While the percentages of late reports seem a bit high, training by the feds has been sorely lacking. This task has been left up to the states, some of which have worked hard and effectively to disseminate the information and provide assistance. Some may not have been as effective.

Keep in mind that these figures reflect reports filed. The biggest question in my mind is, "How much has not even been reported at all?"