MERCER COUNTY Authority seeks way to reduce vacancies

The renting of vacant apartments appears to be the agency's weak point.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- It takes the Mercer County Housing Authority an average of 49 days to rent an apartment after it is vacated, and the executive director says it needs to do better.
"That's really too long," L. DeWitt Boosel told his board of directors Thursday as it met in special session to approve the agency's submission to a federal Department of Housing & amp; Urban Development assessment program called the Public Housing Assessment System report.
The PHAS report rates housing authorities based on submissions from the authorities, a residents' survey and authority audit and financial reports.
"Everything is looking good," Boosel said, with the notable exception of the rental turnaround days.
"It costs us money [in lost rent]," he said.
Board member Tim Jablon said the need for repairs after an apartment is vacated is part of the problem.
Boosel agreed but said there are also delays in just handling the rental paperwork. Some prospective tenants, for example, might have trouble getting utility approvals and that could add days to the process, he said.
Last year's rating
Still, the number is better than last year's PHAS report, which showed the authority had a rental turnaround average of more than 50 days, he said. Despite that, the authority got a "high performance" rating from HUD last year.
Once an apartment is vacated, someone must visit it to determine what, if any repairs are needed. A work order must be prepared and a repair crew scheduled.
Then the painters have to come in and, finally, a cleaning crew, before the unit is turned over to the rental department, Boosel said.
The authority is looking at ways to reduce that time, he said, suggesting that hiring outsiders to do apartment preparation work or creating a special apartment preparation team from among the authority's maintenance staff might be an answer.
Jablon said the authority might want to look at hiring some unemployed authority residents to handle some of that work.
Mercer County's maintenance staff gets high marks for quick responses to work orders, realizing a turnaround time of just 1.19 days, Boosel said.
The agency's financial reports and audits are also in good order, he said.