Housing director says budget cut will hurt at-risk county residents

Area poor people will bear the brunt of proposed funding cuts and outsourcing of county housing grant programs says Jessica Mudgett of the Taylor County Housing Authority (TCHA).

TCHA is a governmental agency that administers grant-funded federal and state housing programs which provide low and no-interest loans to income-qualified individuals to purchase and renovate homes in the community.

Mudgett said TCHA was set up in 1991 and while it is currently housed on the main floor of the Taylor County Courthouse operates independently with its own governing board including county representatives.

TCHA operates using a combination of grant administration fees and an annual subsidy from the county budget. At the October 4 budget review session, finance and personnel committee member Lester Lewis called for the county to cut from the budget the $30,000 paid to TCHA to help cover the agency’s expenses. The committee voted in favor of the cuts sending it to the full county board as part of the overall budget. As part of the cut, the committee also directed that the county contract with Spooner-based Northwest Regional Planning Commission to administer the community development block grant (CDBG) housing grant program.

Mudgett noted that the county’s CDBG is only one of the grant programs that is administered by her office with other active grants awarded to TCHA. She said she will need to continue to administer those grants. “I have 30 years worth of loans and projects that have to be maintained,” Mudgett said.

“How do you just dissolve 30 years of work?” she asked, noting that the cut in county support for her office would seriously impact the ability to serve the economically disadvantaged, elderly and other populations who are eligible for the housing programs.

As far as outsourcing the administration of the grant programs to NWRPC, she said it would present barriers to low income and elderly individuals as well as those of diminished capacity who need a face to face individual to talk with when working through loan applications. “I have people who bring their financial records in a Walmart bag,” Mudgett said, noting that she spends the time working with the clients to go through the paperwork and make sure the applications are filled out correctly to help them qualify for the programs.

She said many of the clients are referred to TCHA by local banks and other lenders. She also noted that she has working relationships with many area contractors and in some cases pays the contractors directly for eligible work done on client properties. Mudgett worries that people will fall through the cracks if they are forced to work with someone in Spooner over the phone or computer.

Mudgett is also concerned about Taylor County money staying with Taylor County residents. She noted that many of the program funds are allocated on a “first-come, firstserved” basis and that Taylor County’s grant funds would be pooled with the 10 counties and five tribal governments that make up NWRPC. She said all of her available funds for the year have already gone out to people in the local area and she is currently seeking additional funds to help support other requests. She said she is concerned that with the available funds pooled, rather than the money being spent solely in Taylor County, it would be spent in other counties before Taylor County residents would get a chance to even file an application.

Mudgett noted that not only does the county housing office provide a service to homeowners, but it provides a service to taxpayers and lenders by working to keep homes out of foreclosure and out of being taken on tax deed. By helping homeowners keep their homes repaired, she said they also help keep property values for the homes and their neighbors from dropping.

Mudgett noted that the amount cut from her agency is small compared to the overall county budget and said she hopes county board members take the negative impacts into account when they review the full budget at the Oct. 26 county board session.