Crescent Springs approved a measure allowing the Housing Authority of Covington to administer the city’s housing choice voucher program at a special meeting held on April 8.
The conversation was initially tabled during a March 25 council meeting to provide more time for research after much discussion between the council members.
Housing choice vouchers are more commonly known as Section 8 vouchers. They provide full or partial rent help for qualified people seeking housing on the private market. They are funded with federal dollars.
The Housing Authority of Covington, which will soon be responsible for administering Section 8 housing in all of Kenton County, has made agreements with cities in the Northern Kentucky area in the past, and Crescent Springs has now entered into a similar agreement.
Executive Director of the Housing Authority of Covington, Steve Arlinghaus, attended the meeting with the city council to answer any questions that the city had regarding the agreement.
“If you decide that you don’t want anything to do with Section 8, that is your choice. We just simply administer the program that’s already in place. But it’s been in place with the city of Crescent Springs for 40 years,” Arlinghaus said.
Regarding questions about what will happen to residents currently living in Section 8 housing in the city of Crescent Springs, Arlinghaus said that it would be up to the landlords to decide whether to evict them or not.
“If they can make other arrangements to pay their rent, I’m sure they’ll let them stay. But on the other hand, if they can’t make the difference up, I would say most landlords would probably look at evicting their residents,” explained Arlinghaus.
Arlinghaus also mentioned the possibility of legal issues if the city were to not re-enter this agreement.
“Where I think you could potentially be liable is if you’ve allowed this for 40 years in the city and then all of a sudden you say ‘No, we’re not going to do it now,’ you could be opening yourself up to some kind of potential legal action filed against the city,” he said.
Council member Bill Schult raised a question about whether the city would try to act independently if it didn’t re-enter the agreement with the authority.
“I would think that we would have to find a way to do it. Because I am against forcing the people out of their home because we’re taking away a payment option for them. So, we would have to find a way to do that,” Mayor Mike Daugherty said.
In a tied vote broken by Mayor Daugherty, the interlocal agreement with the Housing Authority of Covington was approved, continuing what is known as Section 8 housing in the city of Crescent Springs.