Orange County NC Website
• In response to the increased pressures on the Orange County housing market, our board <br /> voted at year-end to exercise its authority to increase the program's payment standard to <br /> 110% of the HUD Fair Market Rent (FMR) rate. We are able to make this change without <br /> authorization from HUD, but to extend further (up to 120%) we would need written consent <br /> from HUD's Greensboro office. This will allow many families to stay where they are, despite <br /> rental increases due to renovations. It expands the affordable options for those assisted by the <br /> HCV program but will tend to reduce the total number of families overall that we can help. <br /> • We have also taken administrative steps to bring onto our books some of the voucher <br /> holders who have moved to Orange County with the permission of their authorities. Most of <br /> these are families with vouchers issued from the Durham Housing Authority. This process is <br /> called "absorption" and means that instead of simply accepting a "pass-thru" payment from <br /> Durham with those vouchers being counted by HUD as Durham vouchers, they become <br /> Orange County vouchers and are administered in the future just as any other we issued. This <br /> is important for us to do because it helps to more accurately reflect the number of families who <br /> are here and receiving assistance from our program. It also reduces the administrative burden <br /> that is created for the two agencies who are cooperatively managing one voucher in two <br /> jurisdictions. <br /> • Our struggle to operate as a board cannot be overstated. Following the retirement of one <br /> board member and the loss of two others due to lack of attendance (one new board member <br /> never appeared at all), we were forced to cancel several monthly board meetings for lack of <br /> quorum. How to confront this problem and our attempts to mitigate its consequences took an <br /> unfortunately significant amount of time for Mr. Davis and me. <br /> Takeaway: In the future, if faced with this type of issue, we will reach out to the Chair of the <br /> County Commissioners (and staffl for assistance much sooner. <br /> • We have begun efforts to secure an HCV participant as a board member (as required by <br /> HUD) and hope to have a recommendation for the Board of Commissioners' review and <br /> approval in the first quarter of 2015. With a more complete complement of board members in <br /> 2015, we hope to do more. <br /> We welcome your feedback and guidance as to how we can better serve Orange County in <br /> this important capacity of providing citizen oversight for the Housing Choice Voucher program. <br /> We look forward to a productive and progressive year ahead. <br /> Jean Bolduc said families affected by the changes to section 8 housing were all <br /> successfully relocated, and no one was abruptly displaced. She said it was still difficult, but it <br /> was not as bad as the publicity made it seem. She said it has been made clear that there is <br /> work to be done in educating the public and the landlords about the pros and cons of the <br /> program, and there is a need to get more landlords involved. She said Orange County is lucky <br /> to have a very well-run section 8 program, and she expects this to continue. <br /> Chair McKee thanked her for the report. <br /> Commissioner Rich asked about the struggles to get a quorum on this board. She said <br /> there might need to be discussion about solutions to this issue. She suggested that perhaps <br /> there need to be other people appointed to the board. <br /> Chair McKee said this has been a sporadic problem for all boards, and there have been <br /> letters issued to remove people for non-attendance in the past. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said staff keeps attendance and provides a periodic report. <br /> Jean Bolduc said this attendance can be reported to the clerk on a quarterly basis. <br /> Commissioner Rich said she would like to get this for all of the boards. <br />