Taos County Recovers 700gs, Meets with Colo. Will Pass LUR
Headlines: Despite the TCHA scandal, the County has recovered over $700,000 from HUD for Section 8 applicants. See Press below.
Southern Colorado Counties and Taos County Meet to Consider areas of mutual interest. Water, Monument, and Tourism on the agenda.
New Land Use Regulations Could be Passed. Will County Preserve or Deny the Right to raise Chickens? Let the Developers Loose with new height limits? Or save the view from smokestacks? Eh? Will they Preserve or Sell the Water Rights?
We’re only asking. Visit on Tuesday Night at 6 PM on Feb. 25. It’s a secret meeting but you’re invited and its your last chance to upset everybody.
COUNTY RECOVERS OVER $700,000 FOR LOCAL HOUSING
FEBRUARY 20, 2014
TAOS COUNTY, NM – Taos County was contacted today by the Office of the Inspector General for Housing and Urban Development and it was confirmed that over $782,086.14 will be recovered and returned to the County’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program under an agreement between the US Attorney’s Office, the Inspector General (OIG) for Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Albuquerque Office of the FBI, and the County.
A Special Agent of the OIG overseeing the case informed the County today that payments may start arriving immediately and will be applied under the agreement directly to the Section 8 Program, now operated by Taos County, in order to increase the availability of affordable housing to Taos County residents.
The recovery is the result of an investigation launched jointly by federal and Taos County staff in November 2011 after County staff uncovered irregularities in a number of programs while auditing the activities of the Housing Authority and its Board.
The County subsequently took over the previously independent housing authority and formed a more streamlined County Housing Department, implementing sweeping changes.
Within 6 months after assuming control of the finances of the housing authority, the county eliminated 13 of 23 audit findings against the housing authority, with the balance addressed in the following 6 months.
In 2011, the independent housing authority had a waiting list of 288 maintenance requests, some dating back 3 years and it was estimated that at the pace they were being completed that it would be 2 years before they were caught up.
The Taos County Housing Department has eliminated the entire backlog and maintenance requests are now being completed within 24 hours.
When the County took over the housing authority, there was a public housing waiting list of 750 people, estimated to be a 4-5 year wait. The current waiting list for public housing is now 309 families, a more than 50% reduction in 2 years, and the estimate waiting time for public housing units is now between 1 month and 2 years, depending on unit size and preferred location.
The waiting list for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program was 850 families when the County took over the program and is now 150 people, all of whom should receive vouchers in the next 6-12 months.
The County anticipates re-opening the waiting list within the next 90 days and accepting new applications for the first time since the investigation began in November 2011.
By eliminating non-essential personnel, such as secretaries, receptionists and redundant administrative personnel, transferring financial control to the County Finance Department, removing landlords that were elected officials or current or former housing staff or family members and weeding out fraud, the County freed up funding for an additional 90 families to receive housing assistance.
The housing program now operates with a reduced payroll and 20 % fewer personnel, and 80% of the original staff have been replaced with experienced, trained housing professionals.
The County has also implemented a “Zero Tolerance” policy on gang activity, guns, illegal drug use, domestic violence, theft, and other criminal activity, resulting in evictions and convictions in public housing units in Questa, Penasco and Taos.
The County is currently increasing its “police housing” presence in all locations, placing uniformed and undercover State Police and Sheriff’s Officers in the public housing locations in Questa, Penasco and Taos as full-time residents.
Gang and drug-related activity has already reduced or eliminated at all project locations and any remaining problems identified are the subject of on-going investigation.
The County has also negotiated an agreement with the NM Mortgage Finance Agency (MFA) and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to take the housing program to the next level later this year by using the former Taos County Housing Authority as the centerpiece for the creation of a state authorized regional housing authority and housing development agency.
As only one of 3 recognized regional housing entities in the state, the Northern Regional Housing Authority (NRHA), as it is called, will provide affordable, workforce and public housing solutions and operations to the northern one-third of New Mexico. The NRHA will be large enough to be financially viable into the foreseeable future and have built-in training and accounting safeguards under the oversight of the state, through MFA, and the participating counties and municipalities that will be appointed to the Board of Directors by the Governor and MFA.
Headquartered in Taos, the new regional entity will keep current housing jobs here, while attracting additional professional positions over the next two years as the operation expands across the region, stimulating local affordable housing options, construction, employment and GRT’s.
For further information on this news item, contact:
Rick Bellis
Deputy County Manager
Director of Planning Community and Economic Development
County Housing Director
Phone: (575) 737-6304
E-mail: richard.bellis@taoscounty.org
Joint New Mexico/Colorado Concerns
TAOS COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS,
COSTILLA COUNTY, ARCHULETA COUNTY &
CONEJOS COUNTY
JOINT MEETING
NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC
Notice is hereby given that the governing body of Taos County, the Board of County Commissioners, will hold a Joint Meeting with the following counties Costilla, Archuleta, & Conejos from the state of Colorado on Tuesday, February 25, 2014, at 9:00 a.m. The meeting will take place at the Administrative Judicial Complex, Commission Chambers, First Floor Room 106, located at 105 Albright Street, Taos, New Mexico.
AGENDA
Topics of Discussion – for discussion, consideration, and decisions regarding the following:
Economic Development
Tourism
Water Concerns
National Monument
Other
Adjournment
Land Use Regs Discussion
TAOS COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
WORKSTUDY SESSION
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2014
6:00 P.M.
TAOS COUNTY COMMISSION CHAMBERS
NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC
Planning Department – Discussion and consideration, and decision regarding the following:
Review of Land Use Regulations
Adjournment
TAOS COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
SPECIAL MEETING
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2014
8:00 P.M.
TAOS COUNTY COMMISSION CHAMBERS
NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC
AGENDA
Planning Department – Discussion and consideration, and decision regarding the following:
Directing the publication of the Land Use Regulations Ordinance (2014-3) and establishing a date for a Public Hearing
Adjournment