Obama Public Housing Program Being Tested in Tarpon Springs

Tarpon Springs is among only three communities in Florida participating in an Obama administration pilot program aimed at using private money to help rehabilitate public housing units for the poor, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The Tarpon Springs Housing Authority is taking part in the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program, which the Times describes as follows:

The program is a rule waiver of sorts. It frees housing authorities, the local bodies that own and manage public housing under federal guidelines, to seek money from private banks or other corporations that might invest in a property with the hope of using tax credits and other incentives to turn a profit.

Under the program, housing authorities could also use their public housing properties as collateral for loans. The risk? If housing authorities can't repay the loans, they could lose the properties to foreclosure.

Read the Times' story for more about one local woman's experience in public housing at Mango Circle in Tarpon Springs and more about the RAD program.

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