HUD FY 2024 Income Limits

Pike County Housing Authority (PCHA) has available for review its HUD published FY 2024 Income Limits for PCHA’s public housing program. The HUD published Income Limits for FY 2024 are to be used for income eligibility determination of admission to the public housing program, as well as determination of whether current households are over income for the public housing program. The HUD published FY 2024 Income Limits were accepted at PCHA’s 4/18/2024 Board Meeting, and are available for review at the PCHA Barry Community Building located at 842 Mason Street, Barry, Illinois 62312 and also are linked below. The HUD published FY 2024 Income Limits are required to be in effect as of 4/1/2024. PCHA is an Equal Housing Provider and Equal Opportunity Employer.

Request For Proposal – Audit Services

The Pike County Housing Authority (PCHA) is making a Request For Proposal (RFP) for audit services for FYE 12/31/2023, FYE 12/31/2024, & FYE 12/31/2025.

PCHA, located at 838 Mason St, Barry, Illinois 62312 is a PHA operating 228 units of low income public housing across 7 different communities in the Pike County, Illinois area. In addition to the Operating Subsidy it receives from HUD, it also receives Capital Fund Grants from HUD for major improvement projects. PCHA has not entered asset management and PCHA is contracted with Hawkins Ash CPAs for their fee accounting services through 12/31/2025.

As stated above, this contract will be for a period of 3 years and will be re-bid after completion of the FYE 12/31/2025 audit. In addition, should either party seek to terminate the agreement prior to the end of the 3 year agreement, a 90 day notice shall be given, in advance, of the desired termination date. No penalty shall be incurred with due notice given.  For improper notices given it will be a $100.00 per day penalty.

Audit services will need to be conducted in accordance with OMB Circular A-133, Audits of State, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations and the Circular A- 133 Compliance Supplement. Additionally, any new compliance supplements issued by the Office of Management and Budget will need to be observed. In addition to the requirements of the RFP, proposals should include, at a minimum, the following:

• HUD Form 5369-C
• Qualifications, certifications, and experience of all staff members to be involved in the audit
• Ability of the contractor to perform the audit according to the terms of the RFP
• References of other agencies previously audited
• Peer Review Data
• Statement as to whether the firm is a small, minority, or women-owned business
• Affirmative Statement
• Liability insurance information
• All-inclusive pricing for all three years of the audit contract and estimated time of completion expected

PCHA reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, to waive any informality in the RFP process, or to terminate the RFP process at any time, if deemed to be in PCHA’s best interests.

The costs for responding to this RFP shall be borne by the prospective contractor and shall bear no reimbursement obligation by PCHA.

Full detail of the RFP for Audit Services is located below.  If there are any questions regarding the terms of this RFP please contact Chris Bruns, Executive Director at 217-407- 0707 or cbruns@pikehousing.com.  Bids will be accepted until 1/29/2024 at 10:00a.m. PCHA is an equal housing provider and equal opportunity employer.

At its February 2024 Board Meeting, The Pike County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners accepted the proposal from Pam Simpson CPA for audit services of fiscal year 2023 – 2025. After this was done, it became apparent that Simpson’s licensure with the State of Illinois was in question, due to time lapsing, not for wrongdoing or penalization. PCHA has taken steps to gather the required certification from Simpson and if the necessary materials are not received then the housing authority will have no choice but to either move forward with another vendor or throw out all bids and start the process over.

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The Pike County Housing Authority (PCHA) has available for public review and comment its FY 2024 Utility Allowance Schedule (UAS) documentation.  This documentation indicates the allowances as calculated by Johnson Controls to offset PCHA tenants Ameren Electric utility costs.  The FY 2024 UAS will be approved as a draft at PCHA’s 10/19/2023 Board Meeting.  The FY 2024 UAS documentation will be available for public review for a period of at least 30 days, beginning 10/25/2023, and a public meeting will be held at the PCHA community building located at 842 Mason Street, Barry, Illinois on 12/1/2023 at 1:00p.m. to collect any and all questions, comments, and concerns regarding the FY 2024 UAS documentation.  At PCHA’s 12/21/2023 Board Meeting it is planned to ratify the FY 2024 UAS as final.  After that approval, the FY 2024 UAS will be applied to all tenant re-examination transactions thereafter. 

PCHA has the FY 2024 UAS documents mentioned above for review at the PCHA community building mentioned above, and also are linked below.  PCHA is an Equal Housing Provider and Equal Opportunity Employer.

The above FY 2024 Utility Allowances were accepted as final at the PHA’s 12/21/2023 Board Meeting. This approval follows a public comment period and public hearing on the allowances. No comments were received at any time during the comment period and no attendance at the public meeting. Also accepted as final at the PHA’s 12/21/2023 meeting was the use of the final allowances against the previously approved flat rents for FY 2024. The combination of these figures will be used for all flat rent choices after 1/1/2024.

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The Pike County Housing Authority (PCHA) has available for public review and comment its updated Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2024 Flat Rent Policy.  This policy has been updated to incorporate HUD supplied data for FFY 2024 Fair Market Rents and FFY 2024 Unadjusted Rents. 

The FFY 2024 Flat Rent Policy will be approved as a draft at PCHA’s 9/28/2023 Board Meeting.  PCHA’s updated FFY 2024 Flat Rent Policy and related documents will be available for public review for a period of at least 30 days, beginning 9/13/2023, and a public meeting will be held at PCHA’s Community Building in Barry on 10/16/2023 at 1:00p.m. to collect any and all comments regarding the documents.  At PCHA’s 10/19/2023 Board Meeting, the FFY 2024 Flat Rent Policy and related documents will be ratified as final.  HUD requires the updated FFY 2024 Fair Market Rents and FFY 2024 Unadjusted Rents to be in effect as of 10/1/2023 and to be incorporated into the housing authority’s payment standards upon final PHA policy ratification.

PCHA has the FFY 2024 Flat Rent Policy and related documents for review at its Community Building located at 842 Mason Street, Barry, Illinois and also below. PCHA is an Equal Housing Provider and Equal Opportunity Employer.   

The above FY 2024 Fair Market Rents & Unadjusted Rents were accepted at PCHA’s 9/28/2023 re-scheduled Board Meeting. The above Flat Rent Policy for 10/1/2023 – 9/30/2024 was accepted as final at PCHA’s regular scheduled Board Meeting on 10/19/2023. The public meeting on the Flat Rent Policy had no attendance and no comments were received at any time regarding the Flat Rent Policy.

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Pike County Housing Authority (PCHA) has available for review and comment its Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy (ACOP) draft revision. The ACOP draft revision was approved at PCHA’s 5/25/2023 Board Meeting, and will be available for review for a period of at least 30 days, beginning 6/7/2023 through 7/17/2023. A Public Meeting will be held on 7/17/2023 at 1:00p.m. at PCHA’s Barry Community Building to collect and review any and all comments received regarding the ACOP policy revision. At PCHA’s 7/20/2023 Board Meeting it is planned to ratify the ACOP draft revision as final. The ACOP draft revision is available for review at the PCHA Barry Community Building located at 842 Mason Street, Barry, Illinois 62312 and also are linked below. As the documentation is voluminous a change file is also linked below which identifies the changes. Comments may be directed to any of the methods listed below. PCHA is an Equal Housing Provider and Equal Opportunity Employer.

The above ACOP revision process has been completed. At the PHA’s 7/20/2023 Board Meeting the May 2023 ACOP Revision was ratified as final. At no point in the process did the PHA receive comments on the revision and no attendance was at the public hearing on the matter. The PHA ACOP is in effect as of 7/20/2023.

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2023 CAPITAL FUND PROGRAM GRANT

Pike County Housing Authority (PCHA) has available for review and comment its 2023 Capital Fund Program Grant draft documents. These documents indicate the work PCHA has planned for the 2023 Capital Fund Program Grant issued by HUD. Contained in the documents are the 2023 Capital Fund Program Grant Annual Budget, Capital Fund Program 5 Year Action Plan for years 2023 – 2027, HUD Form 50077-CR, HUD Form 50071, HUD Form 52840-A, Lobbying Form – SFLLL, Certification of Compliance with Public Hearing, and Written Statement Defining a Significant Amendment. The 2023 Capital Fund Program Grant documents were approved as a draft at PCHA’s 4/27/2023 Board Meeting and will be available for review for a period of at least 45 days, beginning 5/3/2023. A Public Hearing will be held on 6/20/2023 at 1:00p.m. at PCHA’s Barry Community Building to collect any and all questions, comments, and concerns regarding the items. At PCHA’s 7/20/2023 Board Meeting it is planned to ratify the items as final. During the gap in time between the Public Hearing on 6/20/2023 and Board Meeting on 7/20/2023 all items shall remain publicly available. The 2023 Capital Fund Program Grant documents are available for review at PCHA’s Barry Community Building located at 842 Mason Street, Barry, Illinois 62312 and are also below. PCHA is an Equal Housing Provider and Equal Opportunity Employer.

The above CFP 2023 documents were approved as final at the PHA’s 7/20/2023 Board Meeting. The draft documents were available for public review and comment and a public hearing on the draft package was held 6/20/2023. At no point in time were there any comments received on the work items and there was no attendance at the public hearing.

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PUBLIC NOTICE – 5-Year PHA Plan Revision #2

Pike County Housing Authority (PCHA) has available for public review and comment a draft version of Revision #2 to its 5-Year PHA Plan for fiscal years 2021 – 2025. As a Qualified PHA, PCHA is not required to submit an Annual PHA Plan but is required to complete an annual Civil Rights Certification instead. The
draft 5-Year PHA Plan (HUD Form 50075-5Y) Revision #2 and current Civil Rights Certification (HUD Form 50077-CR) are available for review, along with the previously HUD accepted 5-Year PHA Plan Revision #1, for a minimum of 45 days, beginning 2/22/2023 through 4/11/2023. On 4/11/2023 at 1:00pm, at its
Barry Community Building, PCHA will hold a public meeting to receive comments and further discuss those already presented, if applicable. PCHA will accept the draft version of Revision #2 of the 5-Year PHA Plan at its 2/16/2023 Board meeting and final version at its 4/27/2023 Board meeting. Once the final
phase is complete, all documents will be forwarded to the Illinois Housing Development Authority for consistency review, and then HUD, fully completing the revision of the 5-Year PHA Plan submission.

The main focus of Revision #2 is to update merge/demolition/disposition information for PCHA’s 70 units located in Pittsfield, Pleasant Hill, Perry, and Baylis. Specifically;

• Seek merge/demo/disposition of hard to rent properties in areas that are no longer effective or efficient to manage.
• PHA had intended to merge 20 units at its Landess Terrace site in Pittsfield, IL. However, due to cost constraints the plan was no longer feasible. Therefore, PHA intends to demo/disposition up to 20 units at its Landess Terrace site in Pittsfield, IL instead.
• PHA intends to demo/disposition up to 12 units at its E. Adams site in Pittsfield, IL.
• PHA intends to demo/disposition all 12 units at its two sites in Perry, IL.
• PHA intends to demo/disposition all 6 units at its site in Baylis, IL.
• PHA had intended to demo/disposition all 20 units at it site in Pleasant Hill, IL. However, due to program demand, this action is no longer being considered.

PCHA has all documents mentioned above for review at its Barry Community Building located at 842 Mason Street, Barry, Illinois and also linked below. PCHA is an Equal Housing Provider and Equal Opportunity Employer.

The above draft package for the PHA 5 Year Plan 2021 – 2025 Revision #2 was accepted as final at the PHA Board Meeting on 4/27/2023. This ratified package will now be submitted to IHDA through their own review and approval process. Once approved, the package will then be submitted to HUD for final approval.

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REPOSITIONING

The Pike County Housing Authority has made the difficult decision to sell its properties in Perry and Baylis, Illinois.  This move comes after a few years of declining occupancy percentages and the lack of interested renters for either of these fine communities.  Also factoring in is the lack of amenities for the residents of these communities.  When projects are funded one of the main concerns in the applications is what is available locally for people that they would use on a daily basis.  Applications that are approved have strong cases and offerings such as medical facilities (hospitals, doctors, dentists, etc.), banks, postal services, restaurants, grocery stores, and the like.  The availability of these services enhance the lives of the residents in the communities in which they live.  This is by no means a knock against Perry and Baylis, but the reality of rural America, most places do not have the availability of these services.  Another factor in the decision is the declining population of Pike County.  Pike County has suffered a reduction in population from the previous Census report to the most current.  All of these factors contribute to the decision that has been made.

Pike County Housing Authority seeks to minimize the disruption to its clients currently living in the Perry and Baylis areas.  The first choice is to transfer the residents from these areas into other housing authority owned properties.  The second choice is to sell the properties to another affordable housing provider.  The third choice is for these residents to receive a tenant protection voucher which will allow them to rent from a private landlord and the voucher will subsidize a portion of the rent. 

Please see the letter sent to both communities;

Baylis Tenant Notification 7/26/2022

Perry Tenant Notification 7/14/2022    

Be reminded that this is the very beginning of this process to sell the properties.  There are various studies, submissions, approvals, and sales to complete.  It is expected for this process to be complete somewhere in the next 6 to 12 months.

Please contact the Pike County Housing Authority at 217-407-0707 for any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this matter.  

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