$25M on way to state for public housing
Arkansas housing assistance programs will receive a combined total of nearly $25 million from the federal government to make capital improvements to public housing, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced this week.
The department awarded more than $2.7 billion from its annual capital fund to housing authorities in all U.S. states and territories, with $24,961,574 going to 90 housing authorities in Arkansas. North Little Rock, West Helena and Camden received the largest allocations with more than $1 million each: North Little Rock received $1,483,335, West Helena received $1,276,118 and Camden received $1,174,387.
Camden has 519 units of Section 9 housing, the type of housing that HUD’s capital improvement fund aims to improve. Local and regional housing authorities own Section 9 properties, while Section 8 housing choice vouchers allow recipients to choose their own residence within a housing authority’s jurisdiction. The housing authority does not always own units occupied by Section 8 recipients.
The West Helena Housing Authority has more than 500 Section 9 units, Executive Director Carolyn Bramlett said, in the entire city of Helena-West Helena. HUD distributes capital improvement funding based partially on the number of Section 9 units each housing authority has.
However, the North Little Rock Housing Authority has 233 units and some expensive projects planned, Director Belinda Snow said.
“Even though we have some funds for major plumbing issues, we’ve got old properties and we’ve always had issues with our underground plumbing lines,” she said. “The cost to replace that is very expensive.”
Recent severe winter weather might lead the North Little Rock Housing Authority to adjust its plans for how it will use the capital funds, Snow said, though the agency has not “assessed all the damage yet.”
Housing authorities must provide HUD with a detailed five-year plan for capital projects, said Alissa Garrett, executive director of the Camden Housing Authority.
“We have to show how we’re going to spend every single penny,” Garrett said.
Public housing units in both Camden and North Little Rock are in buildings that are at least half a century old. The Poinsett County Housing Authority has 270 units in five cities, and some of its units were built in the 1960s. The agency will use most of its $667,755 to renovate the interiors, Executive Director Wixson Huffstetler said. Improvements will include new paint, flooring, sinks and LED light fixtures.
The city of Trumann is within Poinsett County but has its own housing authority, which received one of the largest allocations in the state, $877,976 for its 364 units.
Housing authority directors said the money they will receive this year is about the same as previous years, though North Little Rock received roughly $500,000 more last year and has since converted some of its Section 9 units to Section 8, Snow said.