An independent audit cannot confirm or deny whether the city's expenditure of $503 has actually increased employment in their area. Why? Part of it is slow implementation, because only 35 of those projects had actually begun hiring. That's a little embarassing considering they've already had the money for almost a year.
But it's also slow expenditures, because the government takes much longer than a private business to get money from the bank to a contractor, and then to a worker. There's also the issue of lost assets due to corruption and wasteful spending, a natural byproduct of any government-run program.
Still, city officials are simply concentrating on "ways to speed contract processing and construction permits as the economy improves.” Keep trying, boys.