Published: November 12, 2009 11:30 pm      

County streamlining services with HRDC

Section 8 voucher and moderate rehabilitation programs moving

CUMBERLAND — Allegany County officials followed through on their pledge made a year ago to streamline services by moving the Section 8 voucher and moderate rehabilitation programs to the Human Resources Development Commission.

The move, announced Thursday during a public meeting, will lead to the elimination of the county’s Housing Services Division as Chief Mary Jane Bonser is expected to retire. The transfer of services will become effective Jan. 1.

Bonser said the county entered into an agreement with the state in 1979 to administer the federally funded Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program. Five years later, the county began its Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Program. A study completed “several years ago” indicated that services offered by the county and city of Cumberland “mirror each other” and a duplication of services was costing both governments money.

Allegany County officials, including Commissioner Jim Stakem, met with City Administrator Jeff Repp and Mayor Lee Fiedler last December. The consolidation of the two governments’ housing offices was discussed then and both sides appeared to feel it was a viable, cost-saving option.

The city’s housing office has relocated to HRDC’s new building at 125 Virginia Ave., Bonser said. The county’s office also will move to that building. HRDC has hired additional staff, which has been trained and certified in the process.

“We feel this would be a perfect fit,” Bonser said.

Courtney Thomas, HRDC executive director, said it’s her intent to see the housing services programs offered now merge with the city’s programs under a single HRDC umbrella.

“It fits in well with our existing housing programs,” Thomas told the commissioners.

Section 8 vouchers, once received by an applicant, are transferrable should the family move from one jurisdiction to another. The moderate rehabilitation program is essentially a Section 8 voucher that stays with the unit. There are four of those in Allegany County.

Both programs provide housing assistance to very low-, low- and moderate-income renters who live outside the city limits of Cumberland.

Thomas said the staff of HRDC and the city will use the same software. In addition, a single list of available vouchers and housing units will be maintained. Currently, Thomas said, new applicants must wait until earlier applicants decide whether they’ll live in the city or the county before a voucher becomes available. Now, it won’t matter. Further, there no longer will be two waiting lists for residents seeking housing assistance.

Stakem said it’s simply another cost-saving measure and the consolidation is the latest in a string of them. The county and city streamlined emergency dispatching services in recent years. Additionally, the city now conducts its elections at the same time the county operates its elections.

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.