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Good News for Affordable/Low Income Housing in Oxford?Possible site near Route 67 and Park Ave Oxford CT  Very soon you will be able to find affordable/low income housing here in Oxford CT. Selectman Dave McKane and First Selectman MaryAnn Drayton-Rogers are both endorsing the affordable housing initiative here in Oxford CT. The proposed apartments/dwellings will rent for approximately $1,000 for 2 bedrooms. This rent is comparable to the same size apartments found in Bridgeport CT (refer to Apartments in Bridgeport ). If you're looking to rent an affordable apartment and want to move out of the city and into a rural area such as Oxford then you will be able to do so very soon. Assistance is available if you still can't afford the rent. You can take advantage of the affordable housing program by applying for Section 8, a government funded housing voucher program.
Section 8 is the former name for a federally-funded rent subsidy program that is now called the Housing Choice Voucher Program.
How It Works:
The Section 8 program, which is generally administered by local housing authorities, in our case this would be the Oxford Housing Authority, provides rent vouchers to eligible households. Voucher holders find their own apartments, in Oxford this will be the Affordable Housing Program now under consideration by First Selectman Maryann Drayton-Rogers administration and negotiate their own rents and leases with landlords. The landlord then signs an agreement with the housing authority that is administering the voucher. Each month voucher holders pay their share of the rent (usually 30% of income) to the landlord, and the housing authority pays the balance of the rent directly to the landlord.
To be eligible for a Section 8 voucher, a household’s income must usually be less than 50% of the median income in the area, based on family size. The exact limits vary from area to area (they are higher in lower Fairfield County); but, as of December 1, 2004, in most parts of the state they were approximately $36,000 per year for a 4-person household, $33,000 per year for a 3-person household, $29,000 per year for a 2-person household, and $26,000 per year for a 1-person household. There are also special categories of applicants for whom the income limit may be higher.
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Written by Charles H. Toothill
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Response to Choice Benefits Town A recent letter to the editor Praised Ms. Drayton-Rogers for selecting long time republican Bob DeBisschop as her new administrative assistant. The writer says that Ms. Drayton-Rogers chooses the best most qualified persons regardless of political affiliation I think a more likely reason for Ms. Drayton-Rogers choice was a thank you for Mr. Debisschop’s support of her candidacy after he lost in a republican primary. While I am sure Mr. DeBisschop has a great knowledge of how things work in town. He and Ms.Drayton-Rogers appear to be unaware that it is a violation of the town charter for him to serve on boards and commissions while employed as the First Selectman’s administrative assistant. He voted to pay some bills at a recent High School Building Committee meeting as an alternate. This vote could not have happened otherwise. I sincerely hope that this choice will benefit the town but so far I cannot see it. |
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