Housing Authority Rejects Fee Increase : Oxnard: Security deposits at federally subsidized units would have gone up an average 134%. Community leaders called hike unfair.
Oxnard’s Housing Authority turned down a staff proposal Tuesday to substantially increase security deposits for low-income tenants after community leaders called the increase unfair and unaffordable.
Security deposits at the city’s federally subsidized housing projects would have gone up an average of 134%.
The new fees, ranging from $100 to $360 depending on the size of the unit, were aimed at both new tenants and current residents of the city’s 780 federally subsidized units.
Tenants now pay a onetime security deposit ranging from $50 for a studio to $150 for a five-bedroom apartment. Under the proposal, deposits for residents would have increased to match those of new tenants.
Oxnard Housing Director Sal Gonzalez said the deposit increases were necessary to recover unpaid rents and the cost of fixing the units after the tenants move out.
Last year the Housing Authority spent $22,557 from its reserves to cover these costs, said Bernard Carn, city housing program manager.
The proposed increase in security deposits is part of the council’s policy of recovering all costs, Carn added.
But at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, several speakers denounced the plan as insensitive to the poor and unfair because it penalizes good tenants for the unpaid rents of other tenants.
“The city is making fair-minded tenants pay for sinners’ deeds,” said Esther Lara, president of the Colonia Village Homeowners Assn., which represents the largest housing project targeted by the proposed increase.
“We oppose this policy because it will increase homelessness,” said the Rev. Jim Gilmore, director of the Zoe Christian Center, the county’s largest permanent homeless shelter.
“The increases would devastate our senior citizens,” said Colonia Village resident Carlos Aguilera. “Don’t just look at dollars. Think of the social impact this increase will have on the tenants.”
“These increases are too steep,” said Michael Arriaga, vice president of the Pleasant Valley Homes tenants association. “Most of our residents are farm workers who can only find work four or five months a year.”
After hearing testimony, the Oxnard Housing Authority--made up of the city’s five council members and two tenant representatives--ordered Gonzalez to come back with a less burdensome plan.
“In this case, I think our policy of full-cost recovery is unfair,” Councilwoman Dorothy Maron said. “These increases are a bit too steep.”
Mayor Nao Takasugi agreed. “The basis for this increase is flawed,” he said. “We can’t force unpaid rents on other tenants.”
