Last Updated on June 9, 2016 by cassnetwork
More federal government housing assistance for elderly and low-income Cass County residents and their families may be available soon.
On Wednesday, Logansport Mayor Dave Kitchell, Logansport Housing Authority Executive Director Molly McBride and Authority Board Member Patrick McNarny met with U.S. Housing and Urban Development officials to discuss the existing local waiting list for Section 8 vouchers, the efficiency of the local office and potential expansion of vouchers for rural Cass County residents.
“What I learned in the past month from HUD is that the local authority’s efficiency level had dropped from 100 percent five years ago to just 62 percent two years ago,” Kitchell said today. “As HUD officials advised us, that efficiency rating was only two percent above the level where intervention from higher levels begins. While the rating did improve to 77 percent last year after Molly McBride joined the authority, her goal is to move its efficiency back to 100 percent again. We support and endorse her personal goal to make that happen and take the agency to the next level up.”
Kitchell said the meeting would not have happened without the cooperation of HUD officials in Washington D.C. and Indianapolis who have been requested to address the local housing situation in the early months of his administration.
“For many people, Section 8 housing is the best chance they have to have control over their own housing,” Kitchell said. “This program is also a plus for landlords because they know they will be paid if their tenant is a Section 8 recipient.”
Additionally, the local authority investigates reports of fraud and abuse of Section 8 housing vouchers, providing a layer of protection for landlords that they might otherwise have to absorb as a cost of doing business.
“With so many empty homes, we have to do whatever we can to ensure we’re improving the demand for our housing stock and that the quality consumers want and need is available.”
More than 100 local residents have been awaiting word of Section 8 housing availability for them. Logansport has approximately 283 slots available in the HUD program.
Pending the approval of a resolution by the authority board, the state’s HUD office will be offering additional vouchers throughout Cass County. Currently, county residents who live outside the city limits have to apply for vouchers in Peru.
SOURCE: News release from Logansport Mayor Dave Kitchell