Changes in the new year's budget for the Little Rock housing authority reflect a plan to renovate three apartment towers and privatize their day-to-day operations.
The overall budget will increase by about 6 percent -- from $23,661,672 to $25,050,575 -- in 2019, budget documents show. The board of commissioners for the Metropolitan Housing Alliance approved the plan during its December meeting.
"We'll be moving toward providing more affordable and better housing for the people in our community," said Lee Lindsey, one of the two newest commissioners on the board.
Many of the budget changes, including cutting security costs nearly in half and increasing construction costs by about the same amount, stem from the agency's decision to join the Rental Assistance Demonstration program. Cumberland, Fred W. Parris and Jesse Powell towers are a part of the program and shifted from public housing to Section 8 in October.
The Rental Assistance Demonstration program is administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In all, the three towers have 616 units. Two of the towers are for people ages 50 and older.
The majority of the Little Rock agency's revenue -- about $17.7 million -- comes from the federal government, and it collects $4.3 million in rent from residents. The largest expenses are rent paid to landlords -- $15.3 million -- and administration costs -- $3.9 million.
The housing authority manages public housing, which is in a few buildings owned by the agency. Section 8 subsidizes rents for people who have lower incomes. People who are a part of the Section 8 program are given vouchers and can find housing anywhere in the city.
If residents in the towers want to move, they are allowed to after one year of staying at the towers.
The Rental Assistance Demonstration program allows housing authorities to supplement income from the federal government with private partnerships. It began under former President Barack Obama and has expanded during President Donald Trump's administration.
"Most of this is driven by D.C.," said Kenyon Lowe, a Little Rock board member. "Local housing authorities have the wherewithal to be creative, but they have to work within the limits of HUD."
The Little Rock agency contracted with Gorman & Co., a Wisconsin-based company, to renovate and run the towers. The housing authority website says construction is expected to be finished by January 2020.
The goal of the program is to provide housing authorities with enough money to revitalize older public housing buildings. The Metropolitan Housing Authority's public housing stock was built in the 1950s and 1960s, according to the budget documents.
Leta Anthony, the board chairman, said she thinks the transition will be beneficial to the community in the long term, and in the first stages the agency is being especially careful with spending.
"We are still working in caution until this thing levels out," she said.
She added that improving the quality of life for residents contributes to the agency's overall goals.
"We are advancing our mission by continuing to develop affordable housing for the community," she said.
Donald Winkler, 61, switched from the 10th floor to the fifth floor this month in the Fred Parris Tower while his old unit is being remodeled. He said he's looking forward to the renovations as long as they don't raise his rent.
"It's supposed to be so nice, so I'm worried," he said. He went to one of the meetings the agency organized to explain the changes to residents.
Rents aren't projected to go up because of the transition to Section 8, according to the agency's website.
Winkler has lived in the tower about three years, he said. He was in the Navy in the 1970s, and the Veterans Affairs office helped him get into public housing. He was homeless for a few years after he and a girlfriend broke up.
"I was happy to have a roof over my head," he said about his move into the Fred Parris Tower.
He wants to see a model apartment, and is looking forward to renovations to the community area where he spends most of his time "kicking it with friends" and watching cowboy movies or thrillers, he says.
Metro on 12/30/2018