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Harkless outlines FCHA property groupings

By Amy Zalar 4 min read

Despite predictions from Fayette County Housing Authority employees that one or more of the groupings of FCHA properties will fail financially under the impending project-based accounting and asset management program, the FCHA executive director is satisfied with the five project groupings as they stand. “I’m not saying it’s perfect, but it’s a good starting point,” said Thomas Harkless, executive director of the Fayette County Housing Authority.

Harkless said as it stands, it is likely two of the groupings, or portfolios, will end up with a surplus and the other three will have a deficit. However, Harkless said FCHA has projected that the two groupings that will make money will earn enough to cover the deficits that are projected for the other three.

If deficits occur, the authority is permitted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to transfer money to make up the difference, Harkless said.

Harkless said the portfolios, largely done geographically, were put together to give the authority the maximum amount of federal operating subsidy that was attainable. At one point, there were seven project groupings, but Harkless said leaving the organization with seven as opposed to dropping the number to five would have meant $11,000 less in operating subsidy. The authority currently has 19 public housing sites.

The chosen option includes one portfolio of senior properties and four portfolios of family properties. The five property groupings were previously approved by the authority board, along with the corresponding management organizational chart.

According to Harkless, if the authority doesn’t shift to the new system by Oct. 1, it will lose nearly $200,000 in subsidy the first year alone. Harkless previously said the two main numbers HUD will be examining under the new system are occupancy percentage and (rent) collection rate for public housing units.

At last month’s board meeting, numerous employees expressed concerns about the five “portfolios.” Several employees voiced concern that a couple of the groupings were doomed to failure, which is defined as not being self-sustaining. Harkless defended the groupings. “I believe that is the best placement that we can do right now,” Harkless said. “Once we have one year of detailed information regarding income and expenses, we may want to readjust.”

Harkless said as per HUD regulations, the authority can readjust the groupings annually. For the first year, Harkless has proposed keeping the number of FCHA employees at 93, although there will be elimination of job titles and shifting of responsibilities.

FCHA employees have been attending training to update them on the new responsibilities under the new system, Harkless said.

The names of the five portfolios are: Project No. 1, Senior Properties; Project No. 2, Central Family Properties; Project No. 3, East Family Properties; Project No. 4, Southwest Family Properties; Project No. 5, Northwest Family Properties.

The properties included in each grouping and their locations are as follows:

– No. 1 (Senior Properties) – Mulligan Manor in Brownsville, White Swan and Marshall Manor in Uniontown, and Belle Vernon Apartments in Belle Vernon.

– No. 2 (Central Family Properties) – Bierer Wood Acres in South Union Township; Crossland Place, Coolspring Street, Eastview Terrace, Sembower Terrace, scattered sites and Oliver Heights, all in Uniontown.

– No. 3 (East Family Properties) – Gibson Terrace in Connellsville, Lemont Heights in Lemont Furnace and Washington Mill in Perryopolis.

– No. 4 (Southwest Family Properties) – Fort Mason Village, Little Wood Acres and Clarence Hess Terrace, all in Masontown; Fairchance Site in Fairchance; Village of Outcrop I and Village of Outcrop II, both in Springhill Township.

– No. 5 (Northwest Family Properties) – South Hill Terrace, Marion Villa, Snowden Terrace and Luzerne Terrace, all in the Brownsville area.

Harkless said although the reserve from one grouping can be used to pay the deficit of another, the authority wouldn’t want to use that strategy long term. He said after a few years, plans must be made to determine that if some properties can’t improve to self-sufficiency, corrective actions could include demolition, disposition or putting the property off line for another use.

Plans are currently underway to demolish 55 of the 100 units at South Hill Terrace, which has been plagued with vacancy problems for years.

Since Harkless took over the reigns of the authority in the fall of 1999, the number of units has dropped from 1,700 at 21 sites to 1,322 at 19 sites. To date, 378 units have been demolished or converted and once the additional 55 units are demolished in a few months, the FCHA will have downsized by 433 units, a reduction of 25.4 percent of its total housing stock that existed in 1999.

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