HOUSING DEPARTMENT: CONNECTING WITH YOU

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) organization is changing. Simple, HUD is reinventing itself. It is streamlining its operations and consolidating within and across it's programs, creating new ways and functions of doing things to better serve taxpayers and communities.

The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury Housing Department mission is simple and the same as HUD's: To promote adequate and affordable housing, economic opportunity and a suitable living environment free from discrimination.

Under HUD's new regulations, Register Vol. 64, No. 93, and effective October 01, 1999, requires that our agency notify all of our Owners/Managers of all Section 8 changes. And one of these changes is that all Section 8 programs shall be combined under one umbrella, and that's HUD's new Voucher Choice Housing Program.

Our Section 8 Project Based Program help low-income households rent privately-owned housing units, we pay the difference between what low-income household can afford--generally defined as 30 percent of their income--and the rent for the unit. All vouchers remain with the households that use them--when a family chooses to move, they are free to bring the subsidy to their next home. We try to make our Section 8 properties as indistinguishable from unsubsidized rental properties, because they are generally used in otherwise unsubsidized rental properties.

One of the challenges that face Section 8 Programs is that unlike the original long-term Section 8 Contracts, budget constraints have limited contracts renewals to 1 year. This magnifies the fears of residents and communities, while increasing the administrative burden of renewing contracts for our department and giving owners one more reason to opt out.

When a contract expires, we will make every effort to keep well-maintained properties in the Section 8 program. In addition, we will pay based on what a property is worth. We will not pay an owner more than the property could get on the open market, but neither should we expect owners of good housing in good neighborhoods to accept less than a fair price.

For more information of these matters, or information on the reinventing of HUD, please do not fear to contact us at: (337) 721-3577. Or you may write us at: Calcasieu Parish Housing Department, P.O. Box 1583, Lake Charles, LA 70602.