Last week's report was just the latest in a series of appeals to the state to up the operating budgets for local housing authorities.
"The former governor starved state agencies in terms of the Department of Housing and Community Development," said state Sen. Susan C. Fargo, D-Lincoln.
On Wednesday, State Auditor Joe DeNucci released a report highlighting 34 instances of Sanitary Code violations found in a random sample of 16 out of the 516 state-aided WHA units. The inspections - which turned up everything from mold-covered bedroom walls to cracked floor tiles - covered units at the Beaverbrook Apartments, Prospect Terrace, Carey Court, Chesterbrook Gardens, Dana Court and Walen Apartments.
The report bears striking similarities to the findings of an October 2006 document, in which DeNucci conducted an audit of some 66 local housing authorities, or LHAs, throughout the state. That report unveiled widespread deterioration of public housing units attributed principally to inadequate state funding.
The 2006 report was followed up by a report from the Legislative Subcommittee on Public Housing in July. Both documents recommend that state funding for LHA operating budgets be increased by $80 million per year.
Most LHAs in the state receive DHCD operating subsidies because the costs of running the developments far exceeds rental revenue, since residents of public housing pay only a fixed portion of their income. However, the auditor's 2006 report found LHAs are not receiving the money they need to keep public housing maintained to a safe and decent standard.
According to the legislative report, the operating budgets for state-funded public housing represent only about 70 percent of public housing maintained by the federal government. In addition, modernization money used toward capital projects has been less than half of what federal public housing receives.
As a result of the funding disparity, state public housing has slipped into far worse physical condition than federal housing. The state oversees 50,000 units of public housing, with 2,000 of those in group homes, 15,000 for family housing, and 32,000 reserved for the elderly and disabled.
Fargo, along with state Reps. Thomas M. Stanley, D-Waltham, and Peter J. Koutoujian, D-Waltham, requested DeNucci's audit of the WHA state-aided units. Fargo said Gov. Deval Patrick's administration seems to be ushering in a new era of recommitment to maintaining the state's public housing.
So far, Patrick's fiscal 2008 budget that went into the House Ways and Means last week, includes a $15 million increase for public housing subsidies - from $45 million to $60 million - as well as a $30 million increase to capital spending from $50 million to $80 million.
"We really need to invest in our public housing infrastructure," said Koutoujian, who said the increase is a strong beginning considering the states $1.1 billion budget deficit. "The question is how much more money do we have out there that we may be able to access for public housing."
Fargo said she witnessed raccoons in the ceilings and a door being held shut by a two-by-four during one visit the Prospect Terrace apartments. She said former Gov. Mitt Romney vetoed funding for that WHA housing property, saying there was "no record of needed repairs." She said the Romney administration consistently turned a blind eye to the plight of public housing residents.
Fargo said she has met with several state agency secretaries from the Patrick administration during hearings of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. She said there seems to be a newfound "eagerness" to address the public housing dilemma.
"I haven't seen that kind of positive approach in 10 years," Fargo said. "I think things are much better now."
Nicole Haley can be reached at nhaley@cnc.com or 781-398-8004.
