THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 14, 1995 TAG: 9503140499
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 143 lines
Hampton Roads public housing could become harder to maintain and more dangerous under a budget-cutting bill moving through Congress, local officials warned Monday.
In Norfolk, operations could be slashed by $3.9 million - nearly a quarter of the city's total public housing budget.
In Portsmouth, the cuts could total $1.9 million, and in Suffolk they would be 35 percent of what the federal government contributes to the city's public housing efforts.
Chesapeake, which is on a different budget cycle, may not be hit as hard.
The legislation also could cut money for modernization of public housing, programs to fight drugs in public housing, and rent subsidies for low-income families in the private market.
Virginia Beach does not have a public housing authority, but millions in community development money there and in the other cities also may be cut.
This week, the House is expected to vote on a bill that would take back $7.2 billion already promised to housing authorities across the country - most of it for public housing.
The House Appropriations Committee approved the bill earlier this month, and the Senate will get to vote on it soon.
The cuts, if they clear Congress, would take effect July 1 at many housing authorities, giving them little time to adjust.
Area housing officials say it would leave their agencies hard-pressed to keep up with repair work and to provide counseling and anti-drug efforts.
The takeback would be on top of a 4 percent cut in housing funds already in effect.
City councils and housing authorities are scrambling to lobby congressional representatives and senators to fight the cuts.
``Public housing across the country will gradually, but severely, deteriorate and become slums and become an even more comfortable environment for drugs and criminal activity,'' said Danny Cruce, executive director of the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
Tenants, too, are fearful of the drastic funding loss.
``These cuts will really hurt us,'' said Shirley Freeman, a Roberts Village resident in Norfolk who is also a commissioner with the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
Without those funds, housing authorities would have difficulty preparing vacant apartments for families now on long waiting lists, officials said.
Congressional advocates of the cuts contend that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is plagued by inefficiencies. They argue that the cuts are long overdue.
But local officials say it is unfair to punish all housing authorities, especially agencies that receive high marks for management. Portsmouth has a 100 percent efficiency rating, and Norfolk achieved 95 percent.
Public housing, which shelters the poorest families, would be the hardest hit by budget reductions. But cuts also are aimed at community-development money, drug-elimination grants and some other programs.
Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Chesapeake operate public housing complexes.
Virginia Beach, which does not have public housing, would lose 7 percent of its community development money, said Andrew M. Friedman, the city's director of housing and neighborhood preservation. But he said he already anticipated the cuts in his budgeting.
Cities with public housing say it is harder to cut their programs.
That's because agencies have to contend with two major mandates: federal rules that prevent housing authorities from forcing tenants to spend more than 30 percent of their income on rents, and requirements to provide electric and water utilities, said Ray Strutton, an assistant executive director of the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
``This will have a devastating impact,'' Strutton said of the cuts.
Federal funds make up $11 million of Norfolk's $18 million public-housing budget. The other $7 million mostly is from tenant rents.
The proposed cuts would remove $3.9 million of the $11 million, Strutton said. But there are $5 million in utility costs that can't be cut, he said. The main alternative for Norfolk, then, would be to cut staff and services, Strutton said.
Suffolk faces the loss of $200,000 of its $570,000 federal public-housing allocation, said James P. Armstrong, who became executive director of the Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority a year ago.
The proposed cuts come at a time when Suffolk is beginning to see progress against housing blight, one of the city's worst problems, Armstrong said.
Local officials were angry that Congress is considering such drastic cuts before the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development can implement its own reductions in a more orderly way. Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros is supposed to submit to Congress soon the Clinton administration's plan to reinvent public housing programs.
Norfolk and Portsmouth governments already are trying to reform public housing through programs that ease the transition of residents to mainstream society.
A funding crisis now could divert attention from programs aimed at improving the lives of tenants, said Herbert M. Collins Sr., a Norfolk city councilman who will co-chair a new task force on public-housing reform there.
``What Congress is doing is too drastic, too sudden,'' said Collins, himself a critic of public housing. ``It's the tenants who are going to be the ones who will be devastated, the ones least able to help themselves.''
Local officials also protested that the proposed legislation would result in an unequal application of funding cuts among housing authorities.
For example, the proposal is to cut public housing budgets by an average of 14 percent. However, because of a quirk in the legislation, the heaviest impacts would be on agencies with budget years beginning on July 1, officials said.
Norfolk is bracing for a 35 percent cut in the portion of its housing money provided by the federal government, while Portsmouth estimates a 43 percent loss.
But Chesapeake's budget year for public housing began on Jan. 1, so the legislation seems to be more forgiving. MEMO: Staff writers Mac Daniel, Francie Latour and Karen Weintraub contributed
to this story.
ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
BUDGETS
Operating budgets for local public housing, and potential cuts by
Congress.
Norfolk
Housing units: 3,663
Budget: $18 million
Tenant rent: nearly $7 million
Federal money: $11 million
Proposed federal cut: 3.9 million
Portsmouth
Housing units: 1,905
Budget: $8.6 million
Tenant rent: $3.7
Federal money: $4.9 million
Proposed federal cut: 1.9 million
Suffolk
Housing units: 466
Budget: N/A
Tenant rent: N/A
Federal money: $570,000
Proposed federal cut: 200,000
Chesapeake
Housing units: 402
Budget: $1.4 million
Tenant rent: $538,000
Federal money: $879,000
Proposed federal cut: Minimal because of different budget cycle.
Virginia Beach
Does not have public housing
by CNB