HomeMy WebLinkAbout780532.tiff fl rEf ORAf1DUf r1
To_Gary_Fortner orrr _Scpt_em_b r._7, 1978
COLORADO From Allen Jost
Subject: Housing Authorities
This memo is a summary of my survey of some of. the housing
authorities in Colorado. The purpose of the survey was to
obtain information about the administration and operation
of a housing authority. Many topics were discussed with
housing authority staff members; but in each case , I asked
three specific questions. These questions were : 1 ) What
is the salary of the housing authority director?, 2) What
are the administrative and program budgets?, and 3) What
were the original staff requirements of the housing
authority? Fortunately, the Adams County Housing Authority
conducted a salary survey of Denver area housing authorities
in January of 1978. The results of the survey are attached
to this memo.
Information concerning the administration and operation of
the various housing authorities is not as simple to
classify. Therefore , I have included a general discussion
of each housing authority .
1 . The Pueblo City Housing Authority is one of the oldest
housing authorities in the state. It was organized in
the early 1950' s and began construction of low rent
units in 1953. Today, the authority administers 1 , 000
rental units and it plans to build 130 Section 8 rental
units in November of 1978. The Authority is not
dependant on any local funds for support . In addition,
the Authority does not use Community Development Block
Grant funds to subsidize its operation . The Authority
employs 10 people and has an administrative budget of
$121 , 000.
2. The Ft . Collins Housing Authority administers 145
Section 8 rental units and it has made application for
50 public housing units. There are 3h staff positions.
The City of Ft . Collins provides a social worker and a
maintenance than on a half-time basis . The Director
feels the Authority will need to administer 300 Section
8 units before it will be self-sufficient .
3. The Adams County Housing Authority administers 250
Section 8 units. It has a staff of 13 people . The
Authority is subsidized in several ways. One form
of subsidy involves the use of C.E.T.A. employees.
Another subsidy is a direct cash payment from Adams
780532
•
Gary Fortner
(lousing Authority Memo
September 7 , 1978
Page 2
•
County ($15 , 000) , Thornton ($6, 000) and Commerce City
($3 , 000) . (The Housing Authority has a contract with
Thornton and Commerce City to administer certain
housing programs within each city. ) Finally , the
Authority administers the Adams County Community
Development Block Grant Program. Therefore , it
receives a percentage of those funds for administra •
-
tive purposes. The Housing Authority Director feels
it would need to administer 500 Section 8 units to
make the Authority self-sufficient with the current
• number of staff members .
•
4. The Jefferson County Housing Authority administers 175
Section 8 rental units. It has applied for 50 units
• of public housing. The Authority has 5 regular, full
time employees. Also, there are 11 C. E.T.A. employees
working on carpooling and rental units surveys for
Jefferson County. The County contributes approximately
one-half of the. $68 , 000 administrative budget . ( It is
estimated that about one-half of the Housing Authority
work is devoted to County business. ) The Authority has
not been involved in the administration of the Commun-
ity Development Program. Therefore, it has not received
any administrative monies from this program. The
current construction and acquisition budget for the
Authority is $5, 500, 000. The Director of the Authority
feels it will need to administer 300 Section 8 units
before it will be self—sufficient .
5. The Boulder County Housing Authority administers 111
Section 8 units . This fall , the authority mill com-
plete constructin on 12 units of Section 8 family
housing and an 3 unit elderly housing project . The
current construction budget is approximately $1 , 500, 000.
The Authority has 7 employees. Four of them are C.E.T.A.
employees and 3 are regular full-time employees. The
Authority will be able to maintain these staff positions
because it has received a Community Development B].ock
Grant . Some of the administrative money from this grant
will be used to put the C.E.T.A. employees on a regular, •
full-time basis. Boulder County appropriates $96 , 000
for the Housing Authority. Of this amount ,. $46 , 000 is
allocated for administration and $50 , 000 is allocated
for rehabilitation grants. The Authority has contracts
with several towns and cities in the County. These •
contracts are very specific, but they do allow the
Authority to carry out housing programs within the cor-
porate limits of the towns.
Gary Fortner
Housing Authority •
September 7 , 1978
Page 3
•
I have several comments to make based on my conversations with
the housing authority employees. These comments concern staffing
and funding as. well as housing assistance programs .
1 . housing Authority Staff : Most housing authority directors
believe it is more efficient to begin a housing authority
with a part-time person. Since the amount of time neces-
sary to prepare housing assistance applications varies,
a full-time employee may he underemployed. Initally , the
housing authority employee may spend 7-3 hours per day
working on housing applications. Then , while the applica-
tions are being processed , he may only spend a few hours a
week on the program.
Another problem associated with the initial staffing of a
housing authority involves the type of .work which needs to
be done. Two special skills are required to begin and
operate a housing authority. One skill requires a person
who can prepare and process housing assistance applications.
This person would need to educate the housing authority
board and the community about housing assistance programs..
The other skill requires an individual who can manage
housing units. He must, take care of the day-to-clay oper-
ation and administration of the occupied dwelling units .
There are few individuals available who can perform both
of these functions. It is very likely that the' only way
Weld County could secure such a person is to hire an
individual who has proven himself while working for another
housing authority. This could be difficult and expensive.
2 . Funding Requirements : There is little doubt that a fully
committed housing assistance program will require a subsidy
from Weld County. This subsidy may be in the form of
•
staff , office space and equipment , or tax money. It is
estimated that it takes about 250 to 300 Section 8 rental
• units to sustain a housing authority operation. It is
important that this point be stressed. A committment to
housing assistance will almost certainly require financial
support . This support may be required, for as many as 3 to-
5 years. However , there are some economic benefits which
result from housing assistance programs. For example ,
approximately three years ago , Boulder County actively
entered the housing assistance field. This year , Boulder
County budgeted $46, 000 for administration and $50, 000
for rehabilitation grants. However , Federal and State
assisted construction projects will begin this year with
a budget of $1, 500, 000. This does not include a $100, 000
revolving rehabilitation loan program and a $450 , 000
Community Development Block Grant . The multiplier effect
of over $2,000 , 000 in housing assistance programs must
have a substantial social and economic impact on Boulder
• County.
Gary Fortner
(lousing Authority •
September 7 , 1978
Page 1 •
•
3 . Housing Assistance Programs: Perhaps the most popular •
housing assistance program is the H.U.D. Section 8 Rental
Assistance Program. One Section 8 program deals with
privately owned rental units and the other deals with
rental units contructed and owned by public agencies such
as housing authorities.
The privately owned Section 8 program is much easier to
begin but it is very difficult to administer . . The Depart-
ment of R.U.D. establishes a fair market rent and apart-
ment owners subscribe to the progrm, if they wish, The
•
housing authority receives a certain amount of money for •
administration and the rental unit owner receives the fair
market rent for each occupied unit . The apartment occu-
pants must meet income guidelines established by H.U .D.
In no case shall they pay more than 25% of their family
income for rent . H.U.D. pays the rest . The fair market
rent is the major problem with this program. Oftentimes
the fairmarket rent established by H.U.D. is too low for
local rental market conditions. . This makes it very
difficult to find apartment owners to participate in the
program.
The other. Section 8 program allows the housing authority
to build and own the rental units. This program is very
difficult to get started but it is relatively easy to
administer and operate. It is not unusual , because of
•
"red tape" , for this type of program to take 2 or 3
years to -be operational .
The Public Housing Program administered by H. U .D. allows
housing authorities to develop, own and operate housing
units. The -units are financed through the sale of
federally insured bonds. (H.U.D. repays the bonds Over
40 years . ) The tennant pays no more than 25% of his
monthly income for rent . The rent payments are used to
operate and maintain the units.
The Farmers Home Administration administers the 504
Rural Housing Program . Several of the five small town
housing authorities in Weld County participate in this
program . Rental units are constructed by the housing
authority; with a loan from 1'mllA. I f the housing authority
rents any units to low income elderly persons , the
authority receives an interest credit . The interest
on the loan may be as low as 1%. This enables the
housing authority to charge a masonable rent for the
units. In Windsor, for example , a single bedroom
apartment rents for $113 . 00 per month. Many small
housing authorities participate in this program for several
reaons . First , it is much easier than ,the H.U.D. pro-
Gary Fortner
Housing Authority
September 7 , t97H
Page 5
grams. Very few restrictions are placed upon the authority
by FmIIA. Most small housing authorities do not have the
staff to process the H.U.D. housing program paper work.
Secondly , most towns have a shortage of low income housing
for the elderly. The Windsor Housing Authority has over
seventy applicants on its waiting list . Third, most towns
do not want to attract "low income" families associated
with H.U.D. housing programs . This program deals only with
elderly persons and most of these do not even need to be
low income.
I believe the length of this memo is an indication of the
complexities involved in entering the housing assistance
field. I recommend that we proceed cautiously and that
we continue to learn more about housing assistance programs
before we make any applications .
AMU. SAl AR11iS lOlt 1I0L 1 NG AUTI KMITY RSY)NNIS1,
• THE DENVPlt METROPOL., FAN AREA - 1/25/78
• AllAMS WUN1Y h OUSING AlJI1KOItl'IY
Director ≥19,000.00
ARVADA HOUSING AUI'IIOR11Y
Executive Director/Planner $17,200.00
Section 8 Coordinator 13,500.00
AURORA HOUSING AUTHORITY
Executive Director 822,000.00
Rehabilitation Coordinator 17,000.00 •
Cost Estimator 14,000.00
Secretary 9,000.00
BOULDER COUNTY MOUSING AUTHORITY
housing Director 824,288.00
Housing Assistance Coordinator 12,756.00
Housing Planning Aide 10,752.00
Housing Rehabilitation Specialist 1.0,488.00
Housing Financial Specialist 10 488.00
Secretary 7,992.00
BOULDER CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY
Executive Director $26,500.00
Assistant Director, Section 8 19,400.00
Rehabilitation Coordinator 19,000.00
Inspector 16,500.00
Loan Grant Specialist 13,100.00
Clerical 10,700.00
7,800.00
BRIGTION HOUSING AUTHORITY
Executive Director $ 3,840.00 time
Maintenance Person 7,280.00
ENGLEWOOD HOUSING AUTHORITY
Assistant Director $17,628.00 - $21,420.00
Administration Assistant 14 ,184.00 - 17,256.00
Building Inspector 13,212.00 - 16,032.00
Secretary 9,372.00 - 11,412.00
IT, COLLINS HOUSING AUTHORITY
Director $].2,000.00
JEFFERSON COUNTY ][OUSIUG AUTHORITY
Executive Director $21,000.00
Economist Planner 8,400.00
Office Manager 8,400.00
Secretary/Bookkeeper 7,200.00
LAKEWOOD HOUSING AUTHORITY
Executive Director $19,560.00
than Counselor 13,428.00
Housing Specialist (Rehab Estimator) 13,428.00
Section 8 Gxordinator 13,728.00
•
HOUSING AUTHORITY PERSONNEL
Page 2, con't.
LITTLEF0N IEUSING AUTHORITY
Executive Director $17,3!X).00
Rehabilitation Coordinator 14,300.00
Maintenance Person 11 ,260.00, $9,270.00
UUSVILLE HOUSING AUTHORITY
Executive Director $24,000.00
Rehabilitation Coordinator 12 60000
-Secretary 11 ,000.00
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