MERCER COUNTY Housing authority to borrow

Federal renovation funds aren't enough to cover the remodeling projects.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- Mercer County Housing Authority, faced with a shrinking capital budget and expanding building improvement needs, plans to borrow money to finance needed renovations.
The authority approved a plan Wednesday that will link it with other housing authorities across Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency in the borrowing of $50 million through a bond issue.
L. DeWitt Boosel, executive director of the Mercer County Housing Authority, said his agency is looking at tapping up to $1.95 million of that money.
The authority gets about $1.3 million a year from the U.S. Department of Housing & amp; Urban Development for use in capital improvement projects and has been using that money to do interior and exterior remodeling of its apartment complexes.
However, it's not enough to meet the cost of those projects, and some are being spread over two years, which means improvement projects on the list have to be pushed back, Boosel said.
Collateral
The law allows the authority to allocate up to 40 percent of its HUD capital improvement grant as collateral on a bond issue, Boosel said, adding that the plan approved by his board calls for using only 15 percent of its grant as collateral on the statewide bond issue.
That's enough to get $1.95 million from the bond issue, he said, adding that the authority already has plans for the first $440,000 of that amount.
It will be used to build four handicapped-accessible apartments at the Malleable Heights apartment complex on Spearman Avenue.
The money should be available in late June or July, Boosel said.
HUD is requiring housing authorities to make at least 5 percent of the apartments in each complex accessible to handicapped tenants.
It's an expense the authority can ill afford out of its federal capital improvement grant, Boosel said, noting that the bond issue will provide the needed funds to meet the requirement.
Must convert apartments
The handicap-accessible mandate will force the authority to convert apartments to that purpose at other housing complexes too, he said.
Frank Fay Terrace, a 76-unit townhouse complex in Pymatuning Township, is a prime example, he said, noting that the authority is designing a renovation plan there now and must convert at least four apartments for use by physically handicapped tenants.
Because the units are all two-story, the authority could be forced to build new, single-floor units, Boosel said, noting that is one option being considered.