Federal funds will help 125 Utah County families

PROVO — The good news is in the mail.

Some 125 Utah County families who thought they were losing the federal funding that helps pay their rent will find out today or Saturday that the financial assistance will continue.

A month ago, those families were told the funding for their federal Section 8 housing vouchers would run out on Sept. 1. But thanks to an injection of $325,000 in federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the voucher program will remain intact.

"It is very good news," said Gene Carly, executive director of the Housing Authority of Utah County, which administers the program. "My only regret is that it had to come after people received the notice that their housing support was going to be terminated."

Carly said the program serves about 1,000 Utah County families, who pay 30 percent or more of their income toward their rent, with the federal voucher program picking up the remainder.

Utah County officials discovered the program was in trouble in late May, when HUD belatedly announced the 2009 budget.

"When those numbers came out, we realized we weren't going to make it to the end of the year," Carly said. So using a "first in, first out" criteria, the Housing Authority identified 125 families who would lose their rent assistance, eliminating families who, for the most part, had received the voucher the longest. Exceptions were made for the elderly, disabled or participants with large families.

The Housing Authority also continued working with federal officials to resolve the shortfall.

When the letters went out in late July informing those families of the decision, "it really wasn't my best day," Carly said. This week is better.

Carly said a variety of conditions created the shortfall, most of them created or exacerbated by the poor economy. Many of the participants in the voucher program either lost their jobs or worked diminished hours, reducing their income.

"When their income goes down, our costs go up," Carly said.

In addition, the program's traditional turnover rate slowed as participants responded to the slump by hunkering down.

The added funding, Carly said, will see the program through the end of the year.

"That will put us in a new budget year with the hopeful prospect that Congress will make the necessary funding available," he said.

e-mail: mhaddock@desnews.com