Westmoreland Housing Authority OKs $17.1 million budget

Westmoreland County Housing Authority board members on Tuesday approved the agency’s annual operating budget that officials hope will be an accurate spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year.

Rachel Fritz, the authority’s chief financial officer, told board members the budgets for administrative costs and public housing programs total $17.1 million for the upcoming fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

Rent payments from tenants are expected to account for about $5.5 million of revenue.

Potential federal cuts were not included in the budget approved Tuesday, Fritz said.

“We are committed to continuing to budget based on the level of funding we receive from the federal government,” Fritz said, noting the authority.

She said the authority’s budget could be altered if federal spending levels are altered.

The budget approved Tuesday includes $4 million for general administrative operations. It includes another $13.1 million to run the authority’s public housing programs, which include more than 1,600 units.

Those budgets do not include separate costs associated with Section 8 public housing subsidies, capital improvement funds and allocations for additional housing programs administered by the authority.