The properties within the Yazoo City Housing Authority will soon undergo a total of $20 million in renovations thanks to tax relief from the Yazoo County Board of Supervisors.
Supervisors agreed to enter into an agreement with the Housing Authority last Friday, accepting an annual $25,000 payment with a two percent inflation adjustment over the course of a 15-year lease. The agreement will replace the traditional ad valorem method, which would prevent the authority from taking on the project.
“The Housing Authority has a number of units in town that they manage,” said Barry Bridgforth, a attorney on behalf of the authority. “Over the course of time, they have to be refurbished. The Housing Authority is entering into a project in which they will be issued tax exempt bonds to do a roughly $20 million physical renovation. In order to this, they have to enter into a long-term lease agreement.”
Since its formation in the late 1940s, the Housing Authority has provided public housing to 354 households, comprised of over 2,000 adults and children. With little to no income, the local housing authority is tenants’ only means of affordable housing. The Housing Authority owns six public housing properties and one non-public housing development, including Lindsey Gardens, Woolwine Square, Fouche Commons, Delta Circle, Magnolia Crossing, Woolwine Extension and Windsor Courts.
Art Schuldt, president of Housing Solutions Alliance, has partnered with housing authorities across the country to help them redevelop their properties. He has worked with the Yazoo City Housing Authority for the past six years.
Schuldt said the Housing Authority completed $5 million in renovations to Magnolia Crossing in 2015, primarily through low income housing tax credits.
But he said there is still much to be done for the authority’s other properties.
“Two of these properties, Lindsey and Woolwine, are more than 60 years old,” Schuldt said. “And with Fouche, we will be putting new exterior facades.”
According to a report provided to the county board, the Housing Authority has formed a limited partnership with investors who will derive all the tax benefits of the properties for 15 years. After the 15-year period, the investors exit the partnership and sole ownership reverts back to the Yazoo City Housing Authority.
“One item of significance in the redevelopment effort is that the Yazoo City Housing Authority will continue to own and operate all its buildings,” the report states. “It is important to note that with this redevelopment, the rents that residents pay will not change. Residents will continue to pay no more than 30 percent of their income towards rent.”
