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Mark Olsen urges review of HRA spending, questions trust-fund and Baxter project
Summary
During open forum, Mark Olsen urged the board to scrutinize the county HRA's use of funds, arguing the authority's statutory purpose is low-income housing in blighted areas and objecting to support for higher-priced housing and nonprofit payments tied to the HRA.
Mark Olsen, who identified himself and gave an address during the meeting’s open forum, urged the board to re-examine the county Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) and recent funding decisions. Olsen said the HRA’s statutory purpose is to serve low-income housing needs in blight areas and contended recent support for projects in Baxter and trust-fund allocations did not match that mission.
Olsen criticized a prior vote approving an HRA request and said the HRA had been used to support projects that, in his view, produced higher-priced housing. "They were formed for low income housing in blight areas, not to give 1000000 dollars to a project out in Baxter and supply $2,300,000 houses in the area," Olsen said. He also questioned nonprofit organizations receiving taxpayer-funded payments tied to the HRA and asked the board to review the HRA’s trust fund requests as the county prepares the 2026 budget.
The board did not take action at the meeting in response to Olsen’s remarks; his comments were entered into the record under open forum.
