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Highlands Today

County Looking For New Housing Director

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By JIM KONKOLY

Highlands Today

Published: February 18, 2009

SEBRING - Highlands County is looking for a new housing director - again.

Nancy Hurley left the position on Friday, becoming the second person to resign as housing director in the past nine months.

As happened with her predecessor, Mandy Hines, Hurley was re-hired by her former employer with a promotion and a pay raise, said Jim Polatty, who oversees the housing department as director of development services.

Hines resigned as housing director in early June, 2008, after holding the job for three months. Hurley was here for three and a half months.

Polatty said the county began advertising to fill the housing director's job immediately after Hurley gave notice that was leaving.

"It's a critical need," he said about filling this vacancy.

Meanwhile, Teresa Hofer, promoted to interim director from her job as the department's housing coordinator specialist, is leading a program with fewer state dollars to distribute to low- and moderate-income people.

County officials recently learned that their application for a $750,000 federal Community Development Block Grant for housing programs was turned down.
Highlands County has received three CDBG grants of $750,000 each over the past six years. The funding was used to demolish substandard homes and replace them with a new, 1,000-square-foot home.

Nearly all of the home demolition-and-construction grants went to low-income elderly people who are disabled, Hofer said.

The county housing department now has just over $700,000 in state grant money for programs, a 20 percent reduction from the previous fiscal year.

Despite the recession, Hofer reports that the housing department is providing down payment assistance to an average of four to five home buyers per month.

The program provides a loan of up to $15,000 to low-income people to cover the down payment and closing costs on a home purchase. The loan, at zero percent, is paid back over up to 30 years, at a monthly payment of just under $42.

People with a moderate income - up to $55,320 per year for a family of four - are eligible for a down-payment loan of up to $10,000 under the same terms.

Much of the county's distribution of state housing money is going into home repairs.

"We are so backed up now with applications (for home repairs) that we're not putting people on a waiting list at this time," Hofer said.

Assistance is available through a grant and/or zero-percent loan for low- and moderate-income homeowners who need repairs to insure their health and safety, Hofer said. Projects include roofing, electrical, plumbing and sewer-septic tank repairs or replacements.

The first $5,000 for a repair project is a grant. Repair work between $5,001 to $10,000 is paid with a deferred-payment loan. The loan is forgiven if the homeowner stays in the home for five years.

Housing assistance for home repairs between $10,000 and $20,000 is provided through a zero-percent loan, with monthly payments on a sliding scale based on income.

Hurley resigned to go back to work for Polk County, where she was a senior planner for housing programs.

Hines, who was hired to replace Penny Phillipi as housing director, resigned after three months to accept a management position with DeSoto County. Phillipi was county housing director for five years and left in November 2007 for a community redevelopment job in Collier County.

Today reporter Jim Konkoly can be reached at 863-386-5855 or jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com

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