Municipalities and nonprofit agencies throughout Schuylkill County have received more than $3 million in affordable housing grants since Schuylkill Community Action began administering the trust fund in 2000, according to an annual report.
Jeffrey A. Feeser, director of housing at Schuylkill Community Action, issued the annual Schuylkill County Affordable Housing Trust Fund report to the Schuylkill County commissioners during a work session Wednesday.
The fund was established by the Schuylkill County commissioners in 1996 and since then, the Recorder of Deeds office has collected $4,418,595.55 for affordable housing programs. An advisory board consisting of seven members manages the fund and Schuylkill Community Action issues an annual report for each funding round.
According to the report, the Schuylkill County commissioners have awarded $3,443,190 in affordable housing grants to municipalities and nonprofit agencies over the last 13 years. During that time, $2,059,979, or 59.8 percent, of the fund went to projects available for all county residents and $1,383,212, or 40.2 percent, went toward regional, municipal or site-specific projects.
About 90 percent of the fund, or $2,256,108, went to service providers for housing repair. Additional projects and funding include: homeownership, $420,450; community development/revitalization, $236,307; rental development, $42,500; and transitional housing, $158,800.
There have been 3,647 beneficiaries assisted though the funding awards, also known as Act 137.
The grants over the 13-year period also resulted in $15,467,408 in additional funding from state, federal and private investments.
Feeser said there are $179,208.97 of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund available in 2013.
"Current collections are still a far cry from the years 2002 to 2007, prior to the collapse of the housing market, when Recorder of Deeds collections averaged $328,855 per year," Feeser said. "This trend of decreased recordings can be directly associated with the deflated housing environment, tightened credit markets and the depressed economic condition the county, state and nation have been experiencing."
Including the 2013 funding round, more than $3.6 million of affordable housing programs have been funded over the 14-year period to benefit lower-income residents of Schuylkill County.
Also during the work session, the Schuylkill County commissioners approved settlement agreements regarding commercial assessment of three industrial buildings.
Black Eagle Industrial LTD agreed to a fair market value of $1,585,000 for an industrial building in North Manheim Township.
Mark E. Egbert agreed to a fair market value of $881,500 for a warehouse/light industrial building in West Brunswick Township.
Thermo-Dynamics Boiler Co. agreed to a fair market value of $1,100,000 for an industrial building in North Manheim Township.
Each assessment will be effective as of Jan. 1, 2013, and the property owners must also reimburse Blue Mountain School District for 23 percent of $2,200.
County Treasurer Jacqueline McGovern also gave her monthly report during the work session. According to the report, the county had a balance of $46,174,655.11 on Wednesday, down from $51,080,487.55 on Feb. 13.
The board approved the termination of three county employees. Timothy Kerns, Orwigsburg, was terminated as a full-time nurse's aide at Rest Haven and Tiffany Black, Schuylkill Haven, was terminated as part-time nurse's aide. Both had a salary of $11.72 per hour. Thomas Strope, Shenandoah, was terminated as a recycling truck driver. He had a per diem rate of $13.37 per hour. All three terminations went into effect retroactively.