Washington County takes harder look at low-income housing

The agency that coordinates affordable housing for low-income residents in Washington County is fielding hard questions from some county commissioners who are unhappy that the county helps finance the program.

The Washington County Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) asked for $3.3 million from the county's levy in 2010 to help improve existing affordable housing properties and to develop new ones.

Tom Triplett, who chairs the HRA board, told county commissioners recently that the number of residents who spend more than 30 percent of their monthly income on housing continues to increase. The county will need far more affordable housing units by 2030, he said.

"It's not only an issue for poor people, it's a growing issue for our senior citizens," he said.

Opposition comes from Commissioner Bill Pulkrabek, who told Housing Authority officials recently that they're doing a good job but that he doesn't like county taxpayers paying for the program.

"I just don't think government should be involved," Pulkrabek said, describing what has become "a political journey for me" to question government subsidies during his 10 years on the County Board.

"I'm glad that we're getting to gut-level issues here," Triplett replied at a recent County Board workshop to examine the matter. Triplett said the Housing Authority is trying to help growing numbers of seniors and is providing services to people in need.

But some of the commissioners, including Gary Kriesel, said they thought that the Housing Authority was competing with the private real estate market by helping residents buy houses. Kriesel said he was more inclined to support the authority's efforts to find affordable rental opportunities.

"If you can't buy a house now you'll probably never be able to buy a house," said Pulkrabek, referring to the glut of foreclosed houses.

Kuchen Meyer, of Afton, an Housing Authority board member, said the authority helps find livable housing for people in need. "The single mom, the single dad, the single person, they shouldn't have to live in squalor," she said.

Another county commissioner, Lisa Weik, also has been critical of the county's funding of the authority and had proposed an eventual end to the program. But she said recently that city leaders in Woodbury and Cottage Grove had written her objecting to her proposed "sunsetting" of county funding.

Weik and Kriesel said they feared "mission creep" -- that the authority might be growing beyond original intentions -- and want it to revisit what is best for county residents.

Commissioners will vote on their final 2010 budget in December. No action was taken in recent discussions, but it did not appear that a majority of the five commissioners would vote to kill funding to the Housing Authority.

The County Board has taken a hard line against spending as Gov. Tim Pawlenty has cut money appropriated to counties. The county put a hiring freeze in place, eliminated new jobs in this year's budget, and ended its funding of 4-H, the youth development program.

Barbara Dacy, the Housing Authority's executive director in Washington County, said county funding constitutes about one-fifth of its annual budget and is "absolutely critical to the success and viability of the program."

The authority owns and manages about 920 housing units in the county, guards against foreclosures and provides safe, affordable housing, she said. In addition, she said, the private sector can't fulfill all the demands for affordable housing.

"We're on the front lines to address a lot of housing-related issues," she said.

Kevin Giles • 612-673-4432