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Tuesday, August 02, 2022

Berks County Housing Authority Will Manage NorCo Housing Authority Properties

Northampton County Housing Authority administers a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program, two public housing developments geared to the elderly and disabled and one low income housing tax credit property.  The management of these programs is a highly specialized field requiring detailed knowledge of HUD regulations. In recent years, Northampton County Housing Authority relied on Lehigh County Housing Authority to manage these programs. When tenants of one public housing development complained about Lehigh, Northampton County Council invited Lehigh to a meeting to respond. Lehigh did provide a written response and made some changes, but it declined to appear. Instead, it gave notice that it was ending its arrangement with Northampton County Housing Authority. 

Effective yesterday, Berks County Housing Authority is now managing the Northampton County Housing Authority programs.

It should be noted that housing authorities are separate state agencies and are independent of the county governments creating them.  

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6 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 2, 2022 at 1:59 AM

    I ask it again: are we that incompetent in Northampton County, that our housing authority can't do its own managing? And if so, why is that the case?

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  2. Bernie O'HareAugust 2, 2022 at 2:07 AM

    I answer again, NorCo's housing authority is a separate state agency. Public housing is a highly technical field and I know of no county employees who are able to manage public housing on behalf of a separately and independently run authority, and nor should they do so.

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousAugust 6, 2022 at 7:18 AM

      You should be aware that Northampton County's Public Works department is now responsible for any facility maintenance emergency that were to occur in those buildings. If it is a separate agency, why is the county spending funds through it's public works department to handle those situations? Especially since I would assume the housing authority has it's own maintenance crew on site...

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  3. AnonymousAugust 2, 2022 at 7:08 AM

    For years, Northampton County had their own Housing Authority and I served on that Board. We were very proud of our accomplishments. We hired an Architectural Firm out of Easton to conduct the everyday operation/business of the Housing Authority. The Oliver Border House was built during that time and it was kind of the crown jewel of the Authority. It is sad to hear these reports today. I don't understand what went wrong. Out of curiosity, under whose Administration did things start to go amok? The County Administration appointed the Board and County Council had representation on that Board.

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  4. Bernie O'HareAugust 2, 2022 at 10:01 AM

    Um, NorCo does have its own housing authority, but it is a separate entity that was losing $. It started the process of hiring LC Housing Authority under Stoffa and completed it under Brown.

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  5. Bernie O'HareAugust 6, 2022 at 9:37 AM

    It is not a county facility and is in fact owned by NCHA, not the county. I am unaware that public works is responsible for anything that goes on there.

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