Housing Authority

of the City of Clay Center 330 West Court St., Clay Center, KS 67432

www.claycenterhousing.com Equal Housing Opportunity (785) 632-2100 * Fax (785) 632-6363

KS Relay Center TDD 800-766-3777

Executive Director’s Report

December 5, 2016

OCCUPANCY

First, I confirmed that Atchison HA did not understand how their funding works. I had requested confirmation from Washington HUD and they confirmed what I already knew. Atchison HA receives their annual funding from HUD for our project based on previous year activity plus the inflation rate if applicable. If there are funds left over at the end of the year they should keep in reserves. Therefore, in theory at least, Atchison HA should always have the funds available to pay our full balance of contract rent under our HAP (Housing Assistance Payment) each month. We have two individuals who have had issues giving us the required income documentation and, in the one person’s case, having difficulty finding transportation to get here from Topeka. With that in mind, I am assuming both tenants will be moved in within the week leaving us with one assessable vacant 1-bedroom in Parkview and two vacant 1-bedroom apartments in Tolin Terrace. Currently we have no one on our waiting lists to move in to these apartments.

PHA Bill of Rights

The PHADA prepared a bill of rights for Public Housing Authorities. Public Housing Authorities are not agents or instrumentalities of HUD, yet the department is micromanaging the everyday decisions of housing providers. So is USDA Rural Development and Kansas Housing Resources Corporation. PHADA affirms that PHAs should retain the right to run their programs with “the maximum amount of responsibility and flexibility” established by law (U.S. Housing Act of 1937, Section 2). While I am encouraged by PHADA’s effort in this area, I am at great odds with the organization and my peers with their stand against merging administration of programs, repealing the Public Housing Program, and bringing in private enterprise to address our affordable housing needs. The public sector has failed, largely due to lack of experience in the field.

With that in mind, I am submitting my resume and cover letter to the Trump Administration for a position on the Housing Policy Advisory Board. I am also going to seek face time with Senator Moran since he sits on the Transportation/HUD committee. I am also going to do everything in my power to get my ideas to Ben Carson as it appears he will become our new HUD Secretary. The current administration has continued to reduce our right to run our programs within reason under the law. With what I am hearing from the incoming administration we may now have an opportunity to see some meaningful changes. I feel strongly that I have The greatest problem I see is that you have the federal government making everything complicated and you have industry organizations like PHADA and NAHRO who spend too much time begging for money and holding on to a dead horse (U.S. Housing Act of 1937).

KORA Request

Beginning last June I have received a request for information on our vendors from an organization who then combines the information in a data base that they charge customers access to. In studying the Kansas Open Records Act I realized that, while this is a nuisance, it is protected under the law for now. The legislature is looking at this issue and I have emailed Susie Swanson about making this kind of a request unlawful. However, I also noticed that the law allows us to charge a reasonable fee to the requester to cover the cost of providing the information including the wages of the individual providing the information. With that in mind, I broke my salary plus employer paid taxes and benefits down to an hourly rate of $39.60 per hour (assuming a 45 hour work week). It takes about 15 minutes to prepare and send the reports each quarter. I will be presenting a resolution to approve this charge.

KPERS Rates will increase in 2019

The KPERS rate for 2017 that is already calculated in our operating budgets is 8.46%. The latest rate adjustment from the KPERS Board of Directors drops to 8.39% in FY 2018 and then jumps to 9.07% in FY 2019. It is my hope that health insurance premiums will come down next year once the President Elect and the new congress repeal and replace the current health insurance law.

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