John Rebchook is a former Rocky Mountain News reporter with more than 30 years of experience in writing and communications... Almost 1,000 public housing units in Colorado are benefiting from $16.8 million awarded by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development to housing authorities, the top HUD official announced today.
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said that money awarded to public housing units is being used to make “significant improvements” to 925 subsidized units in Colorado, which he added creates jobs and helps grow the economy. The public housing authorities in Colorado successfully met a critical funding deadline outlined in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009. If the local housing authorities had not met the one-year deadline, they would have had to return the money to the government.
“Strict deadlines, such as this one, were written into the Recovery Act to ensure that funds would be used to meet the top goal of putting Americans back to work as quickly as possible,” Donovan said. “I am proud of the work HUD and public housing authorities across the country did to meet this critical deadline. It speaks to the commitment they have to improve affordable housing and grow local economies. Families and communities are already seeing new windows, roofs, cost-saving energy-efficient appliances, and much-needed jobs.”
The Colorado housing authorities are creating 60 jobs as part of the development or rehabilitation of the 925 public housing units in hard-hit neighborhoods. The Recovery Act money was awarded to help jump-start the economy during the worst downtown since the Great Depression.
The award is part of the almost $3 billion in Public Housing Capital funds awarded about a year ago by HUD to about 3,100 public housing authorities across the country.
Use it or lose it
The funds were allocated through an established formula, effectively more than doubling the HUD’s annual support of local housing authorities. Specific guidelines in the law required that all funding awarded to public housing authorities through the Recovery Act be “obligated,” or committed to specific projects or activities, one year after it was awarded, or the funding must be recaptured by HUD and redistributed to other agencies in compliance with the requirements.
Public housing authorities were able to meet that deadline by either obligating 100 percent of their funds or voluntarily returning all or a portion of their funds by the deadline. Of the $2.985 billion that was awarded to 3,134 public housing authorities nationally, $2.981 billion has been obligated and $3.246 million was voluntarily returned. HUD is currently determining the redistribution process for the funding returned. The 172 troubled housing authorities that received funding, all met the deadline as well, with only two troubled agencies returning all or a portion of their funds by March 17th.
HUD’s Capital Fund Program provides annual funding to public housing authorities to develop, finance, and/or modernize the public housing in their communities. This funding can be used to make large-scale improvements such as new roofs and for the replacement of plumbing and electrical systems to increase energy efficiency.
The Recovery Act included $13.61 billion for projects and programs administered by HUD, nearly 75 percent of which was allocated to state and local recipients only eight days after President Obama signed the act into law, including public housing capital funding. The remaining 25 percent is being awarded through competitive grant programs.
To date, 98 percent of HUD’s Recovery Act funds are in the hands of local communities, being used to improve housing and neighborhoods, while creating jobs.
Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-865.
[...] HUD grant helps almost 1,000 Colorado housing units Almost 1,000 public housing units in Colorado are benefiting from $16.8 million awarded by the U.S. [...]