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HistoryThe Public Housing Program was an outgrowth of President Roosevelt's economic recovery programs of the early 1930's. To stimulate recovery, Congress enacted public work programs designed to provide jobs, and in the course of doing so, to provide public buildings and housing for the poor.The National Recovery Act of 1933 authorized the use of federal funds to finance low-cost housing. It produced numerous low-rent housing projects, housing in resettlement projects and subsistence homesteads. In 1934, then-Mayor of Louisville Neville Miller made application to the Public Works Administration (PWA) for a housing development in Louisville. Two sites were purchased and developed: College Court and LaSalle Place.Such a federal government role in owning, developing and providing housing, generally considered private market functions, was successfully challenged in a 1996 lawsuit, United States vs. Certain Lands. The decision required the Administration and Congress to seek other means of achieving the same results.Inspired by the federal example, a number of states had passed enabling legislation creating local housing authorities with the power to finance, develop and administer low-income housing, as well as to receive federal assistance. In 1933, the Kentucky Legislature authorized the creation of the Municipal Housing Commission. It was organized in 1937 as a political subdivision of the State and renamed the Housing Authority of Louisville (HAL) in 1970.Overview The Louisville Metro Housing Authority (LMHA), formerly known as the Housing Authority of Louisville, is a non-profit agency responsible for the development and management of federally subsidized low-rent housing in the Louisville Metro area. In 2003, Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson and the Louisville Metro Council approved the merger of the Housing Authority of Louisville and Housing Authority of Jefferson County, thereby creating the Louisville Metro Housing Authority. Tim Barry, former Executive Director of the Housing Authority of Louisville, was named Executive Director of the new agency. The Board of Commissioners was also merged. The LMHA presently manages over 4,000 units with occupancy determined primarily by federal income guidelines. LMHA has four family housing communities and five housing communities for accessible and senior citizens, and a growing number of scattered site housing. Over 7,000 of the Louisville Metro's residents reside in public or subsidized housing. A nine-member Board of Commissioners, appointed by the Metro Mayor, serves as the policy making body of the agency. Funding for the agency's operation comes from residents' rents and annual operating subsidy from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The agency also receives Capital Improvement funds on an annual basis from HUD. Periodically, the agency also applies for funds from HUD and the City's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to finance various modernization improvements. LMHA Resident Profile
LMHA Operations
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