Alabama’s share of the funding, allocated through HUD’s Capital Fund Program, equals approximately $71.5 million and is being divided up among public housing authorities across the state.
The Capital Fund Program provides annual funding to public housing authorities to develop, finance, and/or modernize public housing. The funding can be used to make large-scale improvements, such as new roofs, and to make energy-efficient upgrades to replace old plumbing and electrical systems.
Judy Maness, financial director with the Sylacauga Housing Authority, said the Capital Fund Program and the Operating Fund are the two major appropriations the housing authority receives from HUD annually.
“The Capital Fund Program money is used to keep all of our properties in good condition,” Maness said. “The amount you receive is based on a formula where you take the number of units, the number of bedrooms in those units, the age of the units and the poverty level of the area the unit is in as determined by the census.”
This year the housing authority is receiving $978,930 from the Capital Fund Program. Maness said the amount was slightly less than last year’s appropriation.
The Sylacauga Housing Authority operates 626 apartment units plus the Drew Court Day Care, the Sylacauga Alliance for Family Enhancement offices, and two of its own offices.
Maness said a quarter of the capital funding goes to pay a bond from 2003 when $3 million was used to install air conditioning and some other improvements to the units.
Another 20 percent of the funding goes to operations and another 10 percent pays administration costs. The remainder goes to various capital projects. The projects include roofing, utilities upkeep and grounds keeping, Maness said.
“We do an annual plan each year where we budget our money for the upcoming year. We also have a five-year plan to list everything we want to do as well as plan on what we should spend in the next five years. It has to be approved by our Board of Directors and HUD,” Maness said.
The Childersburg Housing Authority received $300,895 from the Capital Fund Program. Mary Williford, director of the housing authority, could not be reached for comment Friday.
In Talladega, executive director Nettie Goodwin said its $934,819 appropriation would be used to "continue following the annual plan that has already been approved by HUD, the resident council and the Housing Authority. We'll be handling a mix of projects at all three communities, starting with finishing the air conditioning work in Westgate. When we finish one, we'll just move on to the next one."
Goodwin said the appropriation is based on a HUD formula, and is actually not requested by the local authorities. "They pretty much tell us what we're going to get," she said.
In Pell City, the housing authority received $126,256.
Pell City Housing Authority director Lynne Smith was not available for immediate comment Friday.
Additionally, the housing authority of the city of Goodwater received $61,190.
— Home staff writers Brandon Fincher, Chris Norwood and Elsie Hodnett contributed to this report
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