Commissioners ask for clearer UFAS accessibility data and wait-list breakdowns

Jefferson County Housing Authority commissioners asked staff to produce a clear, board-accessible summary of how many units meet federal wheelchair-accessibility standards and to clarify whether wait-list counts can be disaggregated by geography and bedroom size.

Commissioners noted the packet’s high-level wait-list totals can be duplicative because applicants often apply to multiple site-specific lists. Commissioner Paul (first name not specified) and others asked for a readily available table showing which units are UFAS-compliant (Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards) so board members can advise potential partners and better evaluate development priorities. "About 5% of our total units... meet that definition," staff said, referring to units that meet full UFAS criteria; staff added there are additional units with some accessibility modifications that do not meet the full UFAS standard.

Staff explained reasonable-accommodation procedures under fair-housing rules: applicants or current residents who need accessibility adaptations typically submit a verification from a health professional, and approved accommodations can place them on transfer lists prioritized for appropriate units. Commissioners discussed marking vacancies in the monthly report with an asterisk if a unit is wheelchair-accessible and producing a separate static report (since the UFAS count rarely changes month to month).

The board directed staff by consensus to prepare a one-time accessibility summary listing UFAS-compliant units by building and to explore whether Yardi (the authority’s property-management software) can produce cleaner, geographic wait-list and demographic reports for future packet reporting.