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Davenport City housing commission approves February financial and utilization reports after discussion of training and rent-assistance costs
Summary
The Davenport City Housing Commission approved its February financial and utilization reports. Staff told commissioners higher-than-normal training expenses and rising rental-assistance payouts prompted monitoring and a requested budget amendment to ensure continued payments to Section 8 participants.
The Davenport City Housing Commission approved its February financial report and its February utilization report after staff described higher-than-usual training costs and continuing elevated rental-assistance spending.
Malia, a staff member with the housing authority, told commissioners the training expense spike was “out of the ordinary” and linked it to multiple one-time expenses: Choice training, HUS training for a newly hired staffer and billing training. “Staff went to the Des Moines housing conference and so those are very unusual. It wouldn't be something that would be typical and it wouldn't be something that we would do annually,” Malia said.
Malia said the professional-services line exceeded its budget in the current year because the authority needed extra training while filling a vacant inspector role. She added the authority could increase that line in next year’s fiscal budget but did not anticipate the same level of spending annually.
On rent-assistance spending, Malia said the rental-assistance/utility-reimbursement account was at about 85% of its allotment at the time of the report and that the housing authority spends roughly $400,000 a month. “Of course, the city gets reimbursed for everything that they spend for rental assistance, but we do need to ensure that that money is available so we can continue making housing assistance payments,” she said. The commission was told staff has requested a budget amendment for another $1,700,000 to ensure continuity of payments.
Commissioners discussed the authority’s tools for projecting costs. Malia described a HUD-based two-year tool the authority uses monthly to estimate per-unit cost and overall monthly payout, and said staff adjust payment standards and other variables to avoid month-to-month deficits. “We determine how many vouchers are outstanding, how many people have issued vouchers that have not leased up…All these things we do to ensure that we're staying within our regulatory budget,” Malia said.
The commission moved and seconded approval of the February financial report; the chair then called for the vote and announced the report was approved. Later, Commissioner Jordan Joyce moved and the motion was seconded to approve the February utilization report; the chair called for the vote and announced it passed.
The commission also heard that training conferences described by staff are held irregularly—often annually or every other year depending on hosts and attendance—and that the authority expects to maintain data and inspection timelines that support its high-performing status.
No formal amendments to policy were made during the discussion; the approvals were recorded as routine acceptance of the financial and utilization reports.
