Chattanooga Times (Free Press, TN) (KRT) via NewsEdge Corporation :
Jan. 11--More than 100 housing agencies nationwide shut down Wednesday to show the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development what could happen, officials said, if public housing agencies continue to receive inadequate funding.
Chattanooga Housing Authority officials said they didn't find out about the planned protest, called a nationwide "Day of Silence," in time to ask the authority's board for permission to participate, but they support the protesting agencies, said Bob Dull, executive director.
"I would have jumped on this in a heartbeat," Mr. Dull said. "We're in 100 percent total agreement. We just didn't get the information in time to get board approval to shut down business for a day."
HUD officials recently informed housing authorities across the country that it will subsidize just 76 percent of their operating budgets for the first quarter of the year, based on the temporary $3.56 billion HUD appropriation Congress passed last year with a continuing resolution.
Congress is expected to approve HUD's final appropriation for 2007 in mid-February, according to news reports.
Locally, the funding shortfall means that instead of getting the $11 million for which the Chattanooga Housing Authority is eligible, officials here expect to get about $8.3 million, Mr. Dull said.
"For the last two years, we've been operating at 80 percent funding to accommodate the uncertainty," he said.
The National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials credited the Philadelphia Housing Authority for organizing the nationwide protest.
Philadelphia Housing Authority officials said they laid off 350 employees, about 22 percent of their staff Tuesday, as a result of HUD's insufficient funding.
"It seems that (neither) Congress nor the Bush administration has put housing on their priority list," said Kirk Dorn, spokesman for the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
"What we're showing by closing is what could be the ultimate result. Many housing authorities are on the brink of going out of business," he said.
The Chattanooga Housing Authority has no plans for no future layoffs because of the funding shortfall.
It has, however, reduced its staff by about 35 people through cuts and retirement attrition over the past four years, officials said.
Staff reductions included all employment levels, from executive management positions to people working in site offices, Mr. Dull said.
He said the housing agency has been consolidating and cutting programs to prepare for funding shortages.
Programs that have been reduced include transportation for residents, funding to service providers for summer youth programs and resident employee programs, he said.
Mr. Dull said he was invited to Washington next week to meet with other housing authority representatives and discuss the future of public housing with congressional leaders.
E-mail Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com
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