Tentative $31.5 Million Budget Slated For Approval By Dec. 1
by Judy Frank
posted November 17, 2009
A year after Chattanooga Housing Authority barely avoided slipping into bankruptcy, the agency has climbed out of its fiscal black hole.
The agency's tentative budget for 2010, which federal Housing and Urban Development officials have asked be completed by Dec. 1, is set at $31,496,962.
Approximately half that total - about $15.9 million - will fund the housing choice voucher program commonly known as Section 8.
Another $11.8 million will go to low-income public housing,while the remaining $3.8 million is earmarked for central office operations.
Housing authority Chairman Eddie Holmes said the fact that the budget shows a small positive fund balance is eloquent testimony to the dedication that CHA employees have shown to bringing the agency out of the red.
"These people really worked," he said. "I know."
In other action, housing authority members will hold an informational hearing on a controversial proposed $4.8 million housing development on Fairmount Avenue, a dead-end street in North Chattanooga.
On Nov. 2, Mayor Ron Littlefield lambasted the housing authority during a special meeting called in response to an angry letter the mayor sent to HUD officials.
“I don’t want to embarrass the developer,” the mayor said at that time during a frank exchange with authority members, “but . . . that design reminded me of the type of housing I saw in Eastern Europe.”
Tuesday, Chairman Holmes said a lot of changes have been proposed since Nov. 2, including the possibility of building three smaller buildings rather than one large structure.
"But it doesn't matter what we do, if we (reduce the number of units) to 36 or whatever, some people will still complain," he said. "We aren't going to be able to satisfy everybody."
CHA is planning to cut from two- and three-bedroom units to one- and two-bedroom units and reduce the apartments from 48 to 36.
The CHA will hold a special called board meeting on Friday at 11:30 a.m. to make a final decision on the units.
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