Housing Authority looks at options if funding cut

Emily Gojmerac

Reporter

“All of our grant money that we have received that should have lasted us through 2023 is now allocated out into the community,” said director Jessica Mudgett’s to the Taylor County Housing Authority (TCHA) board members Tuesday afternoon.

She gave this as an example of the harm that would result of having cuts to the TCHA office.

She said when there are several eligible applicants within the county that could use the funds from TCHA, cutting the program entirely would not be beneficial for the residents that rely on their services.

According to Mudgett, it takes TCHA $75,000 to run annually, even though the $30,000 in funding that they have been receiving from the county the past few years has helped, it is not enough to benefit the much needed help for low income residents.

Mudgett gave the example of how a current rental property on Second Street in the city of Medford had to be completely renovated on the interior because the past renter left the property in such disarray. That is not including the emergency situations that they have had to deal with other renters including a broken window and roof damage.

“Once we had repaired all the damages, that took a big chunk out of our funding, also the past renter didn’t pay their last utility bill, that had to be paid for,” she said.

Even though the current renter is very good at paying their rent early and has signed on for a second year lease, Mudgett said it would take several years for the TCHA to see a profit from this property after all the work that was put into it to make it livable.

It’s not only the payment of the damages that takes out a huge chunk of their budget, it’s also the property taxes that they have to pay, and also the insurance for each rental, she said.

A property in Gilman that was renovated and is being rented out, does not pay property taxes by the TCHA, because it is all paid for through grants.

The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) grant was used to pay for the cleaning up of the rental property. The payback on the property taxes would come back and go into the CDBG loan. There is $4,500 left to pay on this loan.

She also clarified that cutting the county funding entirely would not only be detrimental to the services they are trying to provide, but it would leave several people out of a place to live.

With a cut to the budget, Mudgett said that they would be able to still provide services to their residents through grants that they receive, but would not be able to be open five days per week.

The office has been open since 1991 when a county board chairman saw a need for a housing authority in Taylor County so from 1993-1997, there was no allocation of county funds and the TCHA was a self-sustaining office. Since 1998-present, the county has contributed to this office.

Mudgett is hoping that the county board reconsiders their decision to cut the funding entirely at the Oct. 26 county board meeting.