Housing authority holds off on payments
The Fayette County Housing Authority is holding off from making one-time contributions to police forces to provide extra patrols in public housing, primarily due to uncertainty over its federal reimbursement for the coming fiscal year. At Tuesday’s meeting, board member Beverly Beal said that word she received at a Harrisburg seminar was “not good” as it concerns federal support for public housing. Beal predicted “tough times” ahead, including a “very tight” fiscal situation in the coming year.
Beal said that the federal budget recently unveiled by the Bush administration tentatively translates into an 89 percent operating subsidy. Sonya Over, the authority’s director of finance, said that figure has traditionally been a much higher 97 percent of the cost of operating the authority.
“That cut could mean a $400,000 cut in our operating subsidy,” said Over.
Board Chairwoman Angela M. Zimmerlink suggested that the board employ a two-pronged approach before doling out any cash to police departments. She said the board should hold a work session to discuss the budget ramifications, and should also ask the five police departments that want help for detailed proposals on how much they want and what they intend to use it for.
At a previous meeting, the board had discussed contributing no more than $300,000 – or roughly 10 percent – of its public housing program reserve as a one-time donation to help municipal police departments defray the cost of providing security in public housing.
Executive Director Thomas L. Harkless said that five police departments – Uniontown, Masontown, Browns-ville, Belle Vernon and Connellsville – have asked for the assistance.
Solicitor John M. “Jack” Purcell said that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will not let the authority make any changes to the decades-old cooperation agreements that saddle those municipalities with the responsibility of providing police protection.
Under those agreements, the housing authority is exempt from paying real estate taxes on its properties. Instead, it makes a payment in lieu of taxes, which is 10 percent of what’s left after it subtracts utility costs from rents collected. In practicality, the PILOT, as it is known, amounts to a mere pittance.
Tom Loukota, Masontown Borough councilman, estimated that his borough provides $120,000 in municipal services to Fort Mason Village each year, but can’t get more than a few hundred dollars in PILOT money because of the 1937 law.
“Right now, you’re probably using 10 percent of our budget in services,” said Loukota, who termed the situation “grossly unfair.”
Short of getting any additional money from the housing authority, Loukota suggested that the FCHA begin strict lease enforcement as a means of eliminating problem tenants from public housing.
He said that at the security summit held at Uniontown Holiday Inn, one FCHA employee said that promptly evicting tenants for all lease violations, including late rent payment, would substantially worsen the vacancy rate problem.
“What you’re saying is that you’re not going to weed out your own problems,” said Loukota.
Harkless said that the comment was one employee’s opinion, and was not universally shared by FCHA staff and many tenants. Beal added in support, “The tenants … if they don’t want to do what’s right, then throw them out. That’s all you need to do.”
Mary Wertz of the South Hill Terrace tenant council said that video cameras have proven “a waste of money” in terms of deterring crime. Wertz suggested that the FCHA consider making South Hill Terrace a gated community, which might dissuade drug dealers and buyers from entering the grounds.
Zimmerlink said that she has always favored strict lease enforcement and related evictions.
She said that while examining Masontown police reports, she found situations where the police made a disturbing the peace call to a unit at 8 p.m., then returned to the same unit for the same reason at 1 a.m.
“I think that we do need better, stricter lease enforcement,” said Zimmerlink. “That way, you (the police) wouldn’t be going back as much.”
Zimmerlink added, “I totally go against the mindset that by building certain types of housing, it’s going to reduce crime.” She said the keys in that area are the caliber of tenants and the authority’s commitment to lease enforcement.
Harkless said the authority’s federal operating subsidy for the coming fiscal year is a “moving target” and that the figure could change substantially, based on his 33 years of experience in public housing.
But he agreed that the authority should hold off for now on making any police force contributions, since it may need to tap its own reserves.