May 19, 2002 By Paul Sunyak 4 min read

The Fayette County Housing Authority apparently permitted 16 public-housing program tenants who owed the authority a combined $3,800 to move into its Section 8 housing program, even though official policy makes them ineligible for any program until the debt is paid in full. Board member Angela M. Zimmerlink brought up the discrepancy at Friday’s board meeting, saying that with 425 families on the Section 8 waiting list, it doesn’t make sense to give those slots to anyone owing the authority unpaid rent or utility bills, or for apartment damages.

At minimum, Zimmerlink said, the authority should change the wording on the resolutions it periodically approves to charge off those vacated accounts as a collection loss. That language plainly states that people on the list are ineligible to participate in any housing authority program until their debts are paid in full.

At Friday’s meeting, the board voted to charge off $18,351 for the first three months of 2002. In the past, Zimmerlink has been highly critical of the authority’s efforts to minimize those losses and to collect money owed before the amounts get too high.

Executive Director Thomas L. Harkless said the authority often ends up in a quandary with tenants who move from public housing into Section 8, as those tenants sign a Section 8 lease with a private landlord before moving out of a public housing unit. Only after they move out can the authority undertake an examination of the unit to tally any damages, Harkless said.

He added that tenants also sometimes skip their last month’s public housing rent in order to save up the security deposit required for their Section 8 rental unit. However, Harkless and the authority’s public housing department head, Dennis Barclay, assured Zimmerlink that the system is designed to recapture any money owed.

Barclay said that tenants who move from public housing into Section 8 and owe money must enter into a payment plan with the authority until their debt is wiped out. Harkless added, “If they don’t stay current with the repayment plan, then they get booted out of the Section 8 program.”

Barclay also said he was uncertain if 16 tenants actually changed programs recently, noting that a “coding problem” may have inflated that number. He agreed to verify that figure for accuracy.

“We do catch up with them (if they owe),” said Barclay, noting that nobody who transfers to Section 8 ends up owing the authority money over the long term.

Zimmerlink said that, first and foremost, the authority should clear up the language of its standard resolution, since it is obvious that people who owe money after exiting public housing are being permitted to enter another program, namely Section 8, while that debt is still on the books.

The board also conducted the following business:

– Voted to designate Falbo-Penrose Joint Venture of Pittsburgh as its real estate development partner, and authorized Harkless to negotiate an agreement with that firm. Harkless said he would bring any agreement back to the board for final approval. Other developers that made a pitch to the board were Trek Development Group of Pittsburgh and local builder Thomas P. Liccardi.

– Awarded a $330,650 contract to low bidder James Electric of Bulger for installation of a site lighting and electrical package at several housing developments.

– Approved a lease agreement that permits ECHO Child Development Center Inc. to use space in the Clarence E. Hess Community Building. In lieu of rent, ECHO must provide its own insurance and pay all utilities.

– Approved a lease agreement with the Fayette County Health Center to rent space for the authority’s Services to Senior Citizens Program, at a yearly cost not to exceed $51,389. Harkless said that rent is the same amount as last year’s.

– Voted to approve separate contracts with Masontown and Brownsville boroughs, to provide an extra police presence in Fort Mason Village and Clarence E. Hess Terrace in Masontown and in South Hill Terrace and Snowden Terrace in Brownsville. The boroughs will be paid $20 per hour, with the yearly amount not to exceed $25,000 for each borough.

– Voted to approve a new and updated personnel policy. Zimmerlink asked that the authority’s “very detailed” sexual harassment policy and its employee drug and alcohol policy be attached in full to the personnel policy as exhibits. She also asked that the authority’s procurement policy likewise be attached under the “conflicts of interest” section of the personnel policy.

– Agreed to pay an extra $9,000 to the Peter R. Johnson Co. to perform a salary comparability study for authority administrative employees. Harkless said that amount was included in the original contract with Johnson but was later deleted. He said it needed to be restored because the current 1996 job descriptions are “outdated” and because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires more current data.