BRATTLEBORO — Local housing authority officials are welcoming a larger chunk of money than expected from the federal government for repairs and capital projects this year.
Brattleboro Housing Partnerships is set to receive a $532,792 grant through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Capital Fund Program. It is about $200,000 more than Jack Mahoney, portfolio manager at BHP, anticipated.
"So, we'll probably be expanding some of the work we're doing," he said. "It's kind of a windfall for us."
Christine Hart, executive director of BHP, called the grant "a great amount of money."
"That's terrific," she said. "That's a substantial amount of money."
Housing authorities throughout the state were given a total of $2.5 million for capital projects via grants that Vermont's congressional delegation described as "a small but important federal investment" to help ensure enough resources were on hand to meet affordable housing needs.
Housing authorities receive the money annually for their capital funds. Hart believes her group secured about $340,000 last year.
The grants are "really great," she told the Reformer, "because like a lot of public housing, we have a lot of big capital items that we haven't been able to attend to because we never had enough money."
One example includes sprinklers her group recently finished installing at the Samuel Elliot Apartments on Elliot Street. A surveillance system in the complex will also be revamped.
The other public housing properties owned by BHP are Moore Court, Ledgewood Heights, Hayes Court and the remaining 25 units at Melrose Terrace. BHP is the name used for the Brattleboro Housing Authority when doing business.
Mahoney expects to fix sidewalks and address tree damage at Melrose Terrace and the Samuel Elliot Apartments.
"Usually in the spring, we have a lot of repairs to do," he told the Reformer.
Some of the money in the capital fund is earmarked for relocating Melrose Terrace residents to a new site once it is ready. BHP recently showed a design sketch to the Brattleboro Development Review Board for adding on to the group's Red Clover Commons, an affordable housing complex on Fairground Road. It was built for the purpose of moving Melrose Terrace tenants out due to a history of flooding at the site and federal funding no longer being available for maintaining the property as residential.
Vermont's congressional delegation - Sen. Patrick Leahy, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Peter Welch - announced the federal grant figures on Wednesday. They said Vermont's six housing authorities would get the money to "preserve, improve and develop public housing" across the state.
"At a time when wages have been stagnant for lower income Vermonters for far too long, and as the cost of rental housing keeps going up, many households have to spend 50 percent or more of their limited income just to keep a roof above their heads," they said in a joint statement. "When you spend that much for housing, it leaves precious little for other necessities. That is why it is critically important to improve and expand the stock of decent, safe and affordable housing in our state."
Struggles in Washington were also cited in the delegation's announcement.
"Congress rejected Trump administration proposals to slash the Capital Fund Program by $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2018, instead boosting funding to $2.75 billion in the 2018 appropriations bill signed into law this spring, an $808.5 million increase over the previous year," the press release says. "Despite Congress' strong commitment to maintaining these funds, the Trump administration has proposed eliminating this program entirely in its fiscal year 2019 budget."
Brattleboro Housing Authority had the second largest grant this year. Barre Housing Authority is set to receive $623,504. Bennington Housing Authority is getting $444,375. Rutland Housing Authority will receive $434,135. Winooski Housing Authority will get $429,514. Montpelier Housing Authority will receive $108,689.
Reach staff writer Chris Mays at cmays@reformer.com, at @CMaysBR on Twitter and 802-254-2311, ext. 273.
