Due to state budget cuts, the Schuylkill County Housing Authority has trimmed its waiting list to meet the needs of its current families.
Tim Hale, authority executive director, submitted the annual and five-year plans to the commissioners Wednesday. They will vote on the plans during a public meeting Wednesday.
"We will be able to maintain the stock we had, but to increase the stock depends on the funding we get," Hale said.
The housing authority offers both public assistance and Section 8 housing programs.
The public housing program provides federally-subsidized rental properties owned and managed by the authority to low-income families in the county. Residents pay a portion of rent based on income, which never exceeds 30 percent of a family's gross income.
The waiting list for that program has 293 families.
The Section 8 program provides rental assistance through vouchers to low-income families who want to live in privately owned housing. Participants pay only a portion of that rent, which is between 30 to 40 percent of the family's adjusted gross income, utilities and other factors.
The authority has stopped giving out vouchers for the Section 8 waiting list and stopped adding additional families to it in October. There are 664 families currently on the Section 8 waiting list.
"We decreased the program by 115 families in order to pay for other families on the program," Hale said.
State funding for the programs in 2014 is $1,380,640 for public housing and $2,542,550 for Section 8. Funding is pro-rated and may actually be about 15 percent less than expected, Hale noted.
Pro-rating refers to applying interest rates or other categories to funding.
Budget cuts have also made it harder for the staff. Six employees were furloughed in May. The authority now has 24 employees.
"It's made things more difficult and people are doing multiple tasks," Hale said about state funding. "We really have a very dedicated and professional staff so we are able to do the work and provide housing, administration and maintenance."
Employees also have to take five days off without pay over the course of the year, he said. Salaries have remained frozen and employees now have a co-pay for benefits, Hale said. Overtime has also been cut back, he said.
"We have cut back on spending," Hale said. "We are only buying bare necessities. Fortunately for us, we had the foresight to do an energy efficiency program earlier."
This year, the state Housing and Urban Development department mandated the "green" assessment program to help cut costs through energy efficiency.
"We are ahead of the curve with that, and it's now coming back to help us," Hale said.