SEATTLE—March 14, 2007—The Seattle Senior Housing Program is seeking two new members for its Review committee, which monitors rent policy for buildings in this program.
In 2003, a new Seattle Senior Housing Program rent policy was adopted to maintain the program's long-term financial viability while ensuring continuing access for extremely low-income households. At that time, SHA established the SSHP Review Committee to monitor implementation of the rent policy. The Review Committee is comprised of 11 people representing various constituencies that have an interest in SSHP.
SHA is now accepting letters of interest to fill the two vacancies. Interested candidates should submit a letter describing why they are interested and their related skills and qualifications to Andria Lazaga, Seattle Housing Authority, PO Box 19028, Seattle, WA 98109-1028. Letters of interest will be accepted at any time, although SHA’s Executive Director plans to appoint at least one new member by the end of April.
The committee meets at least twice each year to review the annual budget and financial performance. It makes recommendations to ensure that the program is bringing in enough revenue to meet its expenses, as well as continuing to serve households with the desired mix of incomes.
SSHP provides housing to low-income seniors in nearly 1,000 units across 23 buildings throughout the city. Rents for the program must be set at a level that allows SHA to pay all of the program’s operating costs since it does not receive any operating funds from the federal government.
During the Housing Authority's Fiscal Year 2006, SSHP met or exceeded all of its performance goals while continuing to provide housing to those in need. Eighty-four percent of SSHP residents qualified as "extremely low-income," meaning they earned less than 30 percent of Area Median Income or $16,350 for a one-person household.
The program had an average vacancy rate of only one percent, had sufficient revenues to cover operating expenses and was able to contribute more than projected to the capital reserve.