Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in Minnesota Stimulus Spending Reported in Non-Existent Zip Codes

More questions and concerns about reliability of stimulus tracking and accountability

Minneapolis, MN—More than $700,000 in stimulus spending in Minnesota has been reported in three zip codes that do not exist, according to a Freedom Foundation of Minnesota (FFM) analysis of the federal government’s stimulus tracking website at recovery.gov and the U.S. Postal Service’s zip code database.

FFM also found additional apparent errors totaling nearly $1.2 million of stimulus spending in Minnesota that has been listed under zip codes in Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and North Dakota.

The non-existent Minnesota zip codes listed at recovery.gov but not in the U.S. Postal Service database are 56184 ($64,000), 56604 ($21,474), and 56769 ($632,875).

The zip codes in other states that are currently listed under Minnesota are 66210 ($284,743 in Overland Park, KS), 65720 ($541,546 in Oldfield, MO), 63044 ($228,660 in Bridgeton, MO), 49827 ($75,778 in Engadine, MI), and 58108 ($61,200 in Fargo, ND). It is not clear if the stimulus funding listed for cities in other states was also submitted in the correct state and constitutes double reporting of spending and jobs data.

The latest problems raise further questions about the integrity and reliability of reported stimulus data. Many have raised concerns about the creative calculations used to estimate the number of jobs allegedly created or saved due to the $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress in February, 2009.

Additionally, recovery.gov is still recovering from damaging revelations by watchdog groups showing it claimed nearly $6.4 billion was used to “create or save” just under 30,000 jobs in approximately 440 phantom congressional districts at an average cost of nearly $225,000 per job. Minnesota was listed as having eleven phantom or non-existent congressional districts which supposedly received more than $7 million in stimulus spending, saving or creating about 50 jobs.

Recovery.gov underwent an expensive $18 million facelift last summer and operates on an $84 million budget. In November, federal officials blamed the website's problems on reporting errors by state and local officials. At that time, Ed Pound, director of communications for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, said corrections would be made. Recovery.gov indicates the Minnesota zip codes were last updated in the government database on October 30, 2009.