Goshen’s Housing Authority no longer exists.

The troubled housing authority formally dissolved its board of directors effective July 1 and is now under control of Warsaw Housing Authority, which has already provided oversight for seven years.

The Goshen office was merged with the Warsaw Housing Authority through a consortium agreement back in 2011 after a financial scandal in Goshen came to light. The Goshen director had been removed when the Warsaw Housing Authority took over at the state’s request, and the entire staff was soon replaced.

Under the consortium agreement,  each housing authority maintained its own vouchers, budget and separate business activities.

The Goshen board voted earlier this year to begin the process to dissolve, a move that was strongly supported by state HUD Director Catherine Lamberg, said Pam Kennedy, executive director of North Central Indiana Housing Authority.

As a result, the Warsaw Housing Authority controls the vouchers that had been assigned to Goshen.

Kennedy said all Goshen clients were notified of the change and said there will be no negative impact. She said the Warsaw Housing Authority remains committed to providing service to Goshen residents.

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“They’re not too worried about it because we did the hard part of changing everything a long time ago,” Kennedy said.

She said she appreciates the work of the Goshen and Warsaw boards in moving  through the complexities of the changes, but added, “I’m happy to be done with it.”

The change will allow staff to “concentrate on what’s going on today instead of digging up the past,” Kennedy said.

She compared dissolving the board to a bankruptcy in that the debts associated with the old housing authority will be forgiven.



Lingering Issues

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development had been attempting for years to recover money lost in the scandal, but was unable to identify how much money needed to be repaid or where that should come from, said Kennedy.  

Estimates on what was owed to HUD varied from $540,000 to over a million dollars,” Kennedy said.

No money was ever reimbursed, but that didn’t mean HUD officials dropped the issue.

“Every six months … a different department at HUD would come up with a different amount,” Kennedy said.

Even after revamping operations, the Goshen program struggled financially as HUD continued to seek a refund of the unaccounted money.

In 2012, the Goshen Housing Authority received nearly $570,000 in emergency funding to keep it afloat. Some of the money came from private donations and more than $500,000 came from Goshen City Council.



Fallout Benefits Warsaw

In recent years, the Warsaw office has seen a sharp rise in the number of vouchers it oversees.

The consortium agreement came at a time when housing offices were being combined to save money and improve accountability. Since then, the Warsaw Housing Authority also assumed control of Section 8 programs for Fulton and Marshall counties.

Goshen’s housing authority oversaw 320 vouchers. Comparatively,  Warsaw has 175 vouchers. The agency has another 408 vouchers reserved for Kosciusko (excluding Warsaw), Fulton and Marshall counties.

Combined, the housing office – now known as North Central Indiana Housing – oversees 903 vouchers, Kennedy said.

The decision to shift control of the vouchers to Warsaw will strengthen the Warsaw office, Kennedy said.

“Our program is big enough that we should be stable enough to stay here for generations to come,” Kennedy said.

She informed Warsaw City Council of the change last week. The news drew applause from some council members and words of appreciation from Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer

Thallemer said Kennedy was able to re-establish credibility in the Goshen program while “navigating the federal response” in the years afterward.

“HUD got the solution they were looking for and Goshen still has its vouchers,” Thallemer said. “Everybody wins.”

Various officials said they were under the impression that HUD would continue to seek repayment of the money if the board was not dissolved.

Goshen Mayor Jeremy Stutsman reluctantly accepted the idea of dissolving the board. He said he received assurances that Goshen clients will continue to be served.

“Yes, I supported it in the fact we don’t see any other option at this point, but it was not by any means my first choice,” Stutsman said. “After a couple years of trying to figure out a path forward, this seems to be the only one that exists.”

As a result of the 2011 consortium, Kennedy moved the housing authority office from Warsaw to Milford to accommodate Goshen clients.

She said there are no plans to relocate the office.