Polk County receives $840K settlement from a nonprofit it created

Catch up quick: Polk County Housing Services (PCHS) was created by supervisors about 50 years ago to allocate millions of dollars to develop group homes for people with disabilities.

• PCHS and its foundation ultimately owned and operated 75 properties.

State of play: Polk County alleged in a 2023 lawsuit that PCHS became less responsive to its requests for financial information before supervisors ultimately terminated its contract in March 2022.

• The homes were returned to Polk County, which now manages them.

Friction point: PCHS Foundation retained about $1 million in account balances after its contract ended.

• In its lawsuit, the county argued that PCHS' sole mission and funding came from the county and that the money should be returned.

The other side: PCHS Foundation said in court documents that the county lacked legal authority to claim the remaining assets and, as part of its ongoing dissolution, the money could benefit other nonprofit groups.

What they're saying: Polk County supervisors did not comment when approving the settlement last week.

• Kevin Crowley, PCHS Foundation president, told Axios he could not comment as part of the settlement agreement.