With opening day just weeks off, the new homeless shelter on Sunrise Boulevard is running short of cash.
Leaders of the Broward Partnership for the Homeless have told the County Commission that pledge money is coming in more slowly than expected.
The extent of the problem was unclear Tuesday, and it was difficult to say what effect it could have on the shelter's future. But the commission is sending its auditor over to review the shelter's books, and some commissioners are worried about what they may find.
"If they need some financial assistance, we need to get in there now and find out what we're dealing with," Commissioner Lori Parrish said.
The Broward Partnership for the Homeless, a group of business and community leaders, has a contract from the county to build and operate the 200-bed shelter. It is scheduled to open Feb. 1.
Under the contract, the county agreed to provide $2 million in start-up funding, so long as the partnership raised $2 million in private donations. The county will also pay yearly operating costs with money raised from an increase in the gasoline tax.
The partnership exceeded its pledge goal, but many of the pledges were to be paid over a five-year period, said Steve Werthman, the county's homeless coordinator.
To help the partnership while the pledge money was coming in, the county lent the partnership a bit more than $2 million late last year, he said. The partnership agreed to pay back the loan by turning over pledge money as soon as it came in.
But the partnership now says it needs to hold onto the money for a while because it needs to pay its construction costs, according to a letter from Elliot Borkson, the partnership's vice chairman.
Borkson downplayed the problem, saying the holiday season accounted for the late pledge payments.
"There's a couple ones because of the holidays," he said. "We're collecting all of those."
But County Commission Chai rwoman Ilene Lieberman sent him a letter Tuesday saying that county leaders were "deeply concerned" that the partnership would not be able to repay the county as it agreed. She expressed surprise at the problem and said he should have told the county earlier.
But the shelter has overcome many hurdles -- neighborhood opposition, funding -- and no one thinks it won't open.
Lieberman said she expects the financial problems to be resolved. This is the first homeless shelter the county has opened, and there are bound to be costs that come in higher than expected, she said.
The partnership's board has accomplished an enormous amount to get this far, she said.
"Let's not lose in this discussion the monumental effort has put forth in terms of funding and finding a location," she said.
Staff Writer Lisa Huriash contributed to this article.