The Highlands Residential Services Board of Directors approved its proposed 2026 fiscal year budget Thursday, but with reservations.
The budgets included all of the facilities in the housing authority. Highlands Residential Executive Director Chris Cassetty said the 2026 budget is projecting an estimated $210,000 to the good. That would be a $90,000 drop from 2025.
“Revenue is down a little bit,” Cassetty said. “We are not getting quite as much subsidy on the public housing units as we were getting. And again, that’s one of the reasons why we are working on transitioning to RAD (Rental Assistance Demonstration).”
Cassetty said there are not many changes in the budgets other than administrative salaries being down, and the cost of water slightly increasing. Cassetty said one of his major concerns was the budget for Oak Tree Towers, as it will have a slightly larger shortfall than it did last year.
“It’s been tight since we built it,” Cassetty said. “We knew it was that way when we built it. That has not changed. This year, we are budgeting about a $49,000 shortfall. Last year was $43,000. I will say that it is in our plan to try to get Oak Tree Towers converted to RAD next year, or certainly be a long way down the road by the end of the year.”
Cassetty said in 2026, the budget is projecting and estimated $263,000 in total revenue. Cassetty told the board that converting Oak Tree Towers to RAD would largely improve Oak Tree Tower’s budget.
“Changing to RAD, without some potential increases that they give every year, that number would be $341,000,” Cassetty said. “That’s an $80,000 difference. $49,000 in the hole becomes $31,000 to the good just right there. And that number will continue to improve with RAD every year.”
Cassetty said the difference in budget positions is why he stresses getting all of the housing properties converted to RAD. Cassetty said when every property is converted in the next two years, the board will not have discussions about negative budgets anymore.