Greeley Housing Authority outlines voucher counts, IGA timeline and board changes

Greeley Housing Authority Executive Director Vincent Arnoldis told the Greeley City Council on April 2025 that the authority is in transition after leadership turnover, that it manages both city and Weld County housing programs, and that a planned transfer of Weld County’s Housing Choice Voucher (HCV, Section 8) portfolio could occur no earlier than July 2026.

Arnoldis said the authority operates about 107 housing units inside Greeley and that the HCV program currently assists roughly 569 families in the city and about 384 families on the Weld County side. He said the authority’s combined wait lists include about 633 households for Greeley and 614 households for Weld County, and that the wait lists are closed because the agency is in a HUD shortfall status.

The update covered four main points: recent leadership and staff turnover, current portfolio and wait-list numbers, the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Weld County and a board-composition recommendation. Arnoldis said the authority’s contract with interim consultants expired and that he was appointed as executive director in December 2024 after a national search.

Why it matters: the transfer of Weld County’s voucher portfolio affects where vouchers can be used, how the authority’s board is constituted and the authority’s federal funding profile. Arnoldis told council that HUD limits program transfers to two effective dates per year (Jan. 1 and July 1) and that a receiving authority must be in “good standing” with HUD to begin the transfer process. He said both Greeley and Weld County housing authorities were in HUD’s shortfall status at the time of the presentation, so the authority has the remainder of the fiscal year to change its rating.

Key details and staff direction

- Board composition: Arnoldis said the housing authority’s executive committee recommends reducing the board from nine members to seven and cutting Weld County representation from four seats to one seat once Weld County’s vouchers transfer; the authority would require at least one Weld County representative after the transfer. The proposal also calls for shortening commissioner terms from five years to three and for the board to forward nominee recommendations directly to City Council for final appointment.

- IGA and asset transfer: Arnoldis said Weld County notified the authority in October that it intended to terminate the prior IGA; a new IGA executed earlier in the year keeps Greeley managing the county’s HCV program during the transition. He said some assets already transferred, including a few units and a vehicle.

- Voucher counts, shortfall and timeline: Arnoldis reported the authority is “sitting at” about 560 vouchers for the Greeley side and 382 for Weld County while noting the authorities’ potential capacities (he said Weld County could go to about 433 vouchers). He said HUD’s funding is driven by last year’s expenditures; the authority currently cannot issue new vouchers and has closed wait lists while in shortfall. He estimated an average attrition of roughly three vouchers a month.

- Funding gap for unused vouchers: Arnoldis said about 219 vouchers were not being utilized because the authority lacked funding. Using March data, he said the per-voucher cost was about $1,161 and that self-funding the unused vouchers for approximately two years would require “a little over $3,000,000” up front; after two years the additional funded vouchers would typically be incorporated into HUD’s baseline budget calculations.

- Operations modernization: Arnoldis said the authority is implementing Yardi management software to speed application processing, tenant and landlord portals, online applications and electronic landlord payments, with a planned go-live date of July 1.

Council questions and staff clarifications

Mayor Gates asked whether the IGA termination with Weld County was adversarial; Arnoldis said it was not and that he had met with Weld County commissioners and described the transfer as collaborative. Councilors pressed on how vouchers move with incomes (Arnoldis explained participants who increase income receive a six-month period before being removed and the voucher becomes available). Councilors also asked about wait times (Arnoldis said with the current closed wait list the average wait could be about five years) and about the potential to fund unused vouchers now through local contributions to expand leasing immediately.

What’s next

Arnoldis said the authority’s board will finalize a recommendation on board composition for the council to consider. He also said staff will pursue potential local funding commitments to temporarily underwrite unused vouchers and that the authority will continue efforts to improve operations as it readies for a potential July 2026 transfer window.

Ending note: Arnoldis emphasized his personal connection to public housing and said modernizing the authority’s processes and stabilizing staff were priorities for improving service delivery.