AMSTERDAM — Since the beginning of the year, the city has had 16 grants worth several million dollars that have gone unused because they are not administered by anyone.

City grant writer Nick Zabawsky said Amsterdam has received more than $7 million worth of grants in the past four years. Six of the grants have money allocated for administration costs; the other 16 are what he calls “orphans.”

Zabawsky said he doesn’t have the money to do the work associated with administering the grants so the Urban Renewal Agency, which includes Zabawsky, is asking for $4,000 to cover the administration costs for the remaining grants. The city has to appropriate $19,000 for administering all the city’s grants.

The resolution authorizing the Urban Renewal Agency to administer the grants and provide money to cover the cost has been sent to committee by the Common Council.

Zabawsky said he has done some work on the unadministered grants to keep them going, on a pro bono basis, but “there is a limit to how much people can do for free,” he said.

Zabawsky said the city can’t “hire someone off the streets” to do the work — it has to be done by someone who knows the state and federal review procedures and agency regulations.

Without someone to administer the grants, Zabawsky said the city risks losing them.

And without someone to oversee the grants, mishaps might occur. The city has had trouble with administration of grants in previous years.

In 2007, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development threatened to make the city give back a $535,000 loan that the city had given to Michael Hastings to rehabilitate the Cliffside Restaurant. The business failed and the city had to scramble to come up with records documenting how money from the grant was spent.

Also, the city was unable to use a $270,000 state multimodal grant for the sidewalks on Church Street because the project was not put up for competitive bidding.

Officials are currently working on a tracking mechanism for all the grants the city has received.

“This administration has always been focused on accountability,” Mayor Ann Thane said. “It all boils down to administration. We need to be overseeing all of this.”

“Especially with the governor looking to cut the budget, we really need to protect ourself,” Zabawsky said.

Previously, the administration of grants was done by the Community and Economic Development Department, which was eliminated during the administration of the previous mayor, Joseph Emanuele III.

Zabawsky said most of the grants require a state environmental quality review, Common Council resolutions and design work involving an architect or engineer. Also, many of the grants require coordination with other city departments, especially the engineering department.

“And they all require reports, some of them are a simple two pages and some are huge,” Zabawsky said.

He cited the paperwork needed for the $2.5 million Restore NY grant for the Mohasco Mills and adjacent Esquire Novelty site.

“Once we line up a developer we need a SEQR environmental review and a whole bunch of documents to the state,” Zabawsky said. “It’s a huge piece of work.”

The Finance Committee is scheduled to meet to discuss the issue Tuesday, Oct. 7.

Alderman Joseph Isabel, R-1st Ward, said for the past two years that he has been in office, the city grant writer has not asked for additional money to administer the grants.

“I’m not too much in favor of this because for the last two years we haven’t been asked for it,” he said.

Alderman Daniel Roth, R-2nd Ward, said he is in favor of having someone administer the grants because it promotes accountability.

“When you’re dealing with large amounts of money, and I’m not a professional in the grant writing industry, we need someone that knows the ins and outs of what we’re dealing with so we can maximize the use of that money,” he said.