Commission on Aging

WHEATON HOUSING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES REGULAR MEETING October 12, 2017 The regular meeting of the Wheaton Housing Commission was held in the Gamon Room, Wheaton City Hall, at 303 W. Wesley Street, Wheaton, Illinois. The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m., on Thursday, October 12, 2017, by Housing Commission Vice Chair, Stu Johnson. Present: Stu Johnson, Vice Chair Absent: Bob Barger Chris Ellerman Bill Gilbertson David Horton Jan Kay Steve Limp Andrea Petti, Secretary Mike Rybinski Joe Kreidl – City of Wheaton Observers: Tom Zullo, commission applicant, and, American Government class students from Wheaton North High School. Public Comment: None. Approval of Minutes: Commissioner Johnson moved, and Commissioner Limp seconded, a motion to accept the minutes of the May 11, 2017 meeting, as written. The motion was unanimously approved by a voice vote. Old Business: None New Business: 1. Election of New chair Commissioner Gilbertson moved and Commissioner Limp seconded the motion to nominate Commissioner Barger to be the new chairman of this commission. The motion was unanimously approved by a voice vote 2. Review of late Housings Assistance Applications for approval/denial Ms. Qualkenbush submitted an updated list of 2017-2018 Wheaton Housing Assistance recipients, along with a late application, for approval. Commissioner Johnson moved and Commissioner Limp seconded the motion to approved application #47. The motion was unanimously approved by a voice vote  3. Housing Assistance Program Update Commissioner Johnson submitted a document showing the projected benefit level for 2018- 2019, which includes the federal Poverty Guidelines for the past two years. His work also reviewed the point system for income for the same time span, the Social Security Administration’s Cost of Living Allowance and benefits received by the residents in this program, separated as owner and renter. The current budget surplus is $32,570. Discussion ensued about how to best administer the funds: adding people using the same guidelines, adding people by increasing the income cap, and increasing the payouts to the current recipients. Voicing concern for being good stewards of the budget, and to best help those in the most need, the commissioners voiced concern about whether to increase the income cap, to help more, or to increase the dispersal to the current program members. Immediate options include a notice in the next Water Bill, as it has been seen as a good way to reach the elderly citizens, and to “spread the word” via landlords. There was discussion around adjusting the point system: Commissioner Kay suggested looking at adjusting a lifetime of gender income disparity, as many recipients are women Commissioner Johnson said the lowest income recipients should receive more points Commissioner Ellerman said the current formula doesn’t account for property tax increases. While the property tax can be frozen, other taxes increase, e.g. school tax. Commissioner Kay said the schools do need money for repairs/upgrades; 1Joe Kreidl said 1/3 of all residences in Wheaton are rentals A review the current formula/model is needed to o What is happening to the current cost of living in DuPage County? o Should look at the amount given to each person. (Commissioner Ellerman) o compare average rents in Wheaton vs. Dupage County, currently $1055 (Commissioner Ellerman) o Adjust the cost of living index for the true cost of living/housing in Wheaton. o Compare cost of living index in Wheaton vs. the SSA’s COLA(Commissioner Ellerman) o Balance of money allocated per person, and the maximum income allowed. o Resultant formula should be simple to administer; I’ll review my current calculations (Commissioner Johnson) Commissioner Ellerman said we need to look at other models; ones that are more sophisticated, like the federal government’s, in order to determine how much a person really spends on housing. Commissioner Barger suggested we do benchmarking: Do other cities offer a similar program to this program in Wheaton? If so, how do they determine the benefit amounts? 4. New budget year The City of Wheaton will be transitioning from a fiscal year budget to a calendar year budget. We need to prepare for the new budget; we may not be able to determine the calculations mentioned, in order to apply them to the coming year’s application process. We need to  determine if this will be a shortened budget year and how that will work for approvals going forward. Items for discussion at future meetings Commissioner Kay mentioned that Low-income residents are affected by the availability of public transportation, as they do not always have cars. Residents have had to wait for a very long time in the heat for a bus, and had to stand the whole time as there were no benches to rest on. Commissioner Kay mentioned that low-income residents are affected by the high cost of utilities: one resident doesn’t use lights, heat, air conditioning, etc., in order to conserve funds. Special Speakers suggestions for the coming year:  The presentation from last May, given by Mrs. Hartsaw from the DuPage Federation of Human Services, was very good. Seek more like this one.  Court Airhardt, of Airhardt Construction, to give insight into the problems builders face in attempting to build affordable housing. (Commissioner Kay)  Todd Fuller, of Hope Fair Housing Center, www.hopefair.org; helped create a new ordinance in Naperville, requiring all landlords to accept housing vouchers. (Commissioner Limp to follow-up) Additional ways to help the residents in this program:  Obtain subsidies from corporations (samples of toiletries, etc.)  Update the reference book, showing resources available in Dupage County  Get these residents linked to a County case manager, if there appears to be a need. Commissioner Limp to inquire about guidelines for making referrals. Note: Commissioner Johnson stated for the record the appreciation of the Commission for the work of Tom Hudock, our former chairman, in effectively representing to the City Council the needs of the seniors in Wheaton who are impacted by the Housing Assistance Program. Adjournment: A motion was made by Commissioner Gilbertson and seconded by Commissioner Limp. to adjourn the meeting at 7:45pm. The motion was unanimously approved by a voice vote. Next regular meeting of this commission is scheduled to be held on Thursday, November 9, 2017.