AGENDA ITEM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
ITEM TITLE
title
Receive an update on the Town’s Public Housing Program
presenter
RESPONSIBLE STAFF, TITLE, DEPARTMENT
Sarah Viñas, Director, Affordable Housing and Community Connections Department
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommend Council receive this update that will include the following topics:
1. Overview of Public Housing Model and the Town’s Program
2. Current Status of Operations
3. What’s Ahead
body
ACTION/DECISION POINTS
Council receives this report and provides guidance to staff.
LEGISLATIVE CONTEXT
The Town Council serves as the board of the Town’s public housing authority (PHA), which oversees the Town’s public housing program.
A public housing authority (PHA) board is responsible for overseeing the overall operations and governance of a local housing authority, including setting policies, approving budgets, and ensuring compliance with regulations.
BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT
• The Town owns and operates a portfolio of 296 public housing units located in 12 neighborhoods. Our oldest communities were built in 1967 and our most recent were built in 1994. Our public housing stock is aging with many units in need of major renovation or redevelopment.
• On April 1st 2024, the former Public Housing Department was merged with the existing Affordable Housing and Community Connections (AH&CC) Department. This moved the public housing team to be a division of AH&CC and further aligns all the Town’s affordable housing functions within one team.
• Our public housing program is directly supported by 23 FTE’s from the Affordable Housing & Community Connections and the Business Management departments, 20 of whom are fully or partially federally funded.
• Our public housing program operates as an enterprise fund with annual funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) of ~$1.3 Million in operating subsidy and ~$1.2 Million in capital funding to support extraordinary maintenance and renovation projects. The Town also relies on rental revenue in the annual amount of ~$1.35 Million to support operations.
• Our public housing program currently receives no direct budgetary supplement from the Town’s general fund beyond staff time for some administrative and accounting functions.
ATTACHMENTS
Public Housing One-Pager
Fiscal Year 2025 Public Housing Budget
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