Manatee to run Section 8 rental program

BRADENTON - The City Council on Wednesday voted 5-0 to transfer its Section 8 Housing Assistance Program to the Manatee County Housing Authority.

As of Oct. 1, the consolidation process will be complete. City Clerk Carl Callahan said the change will make the program run more efficiently, and some workers will be moving over to the county.

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has favored consolidation over cutting services, and a press release from the city said more than 500 housing authorities across the U.S. have undergone similar consolidation, including more than 17 in Florida.

Reduced HUD funds, reduced local revenues and higher unemployment levels, plus the need for increased rental assistance, prompted these consolidations.

None of the more than 300 housing assistance voucher recipients will be affected by the program transfer, said Lesa Ramos, manager of the Bradenton Housing and Community Development Division.

"For those program participants, it should be business as usual," she said.