Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, under that program, we provide support, rentgeared income support on the Avens Ridge which is part of the facility in town here, and with their collection rate, the subsidy has been reduced. They’ve been doing a good job running their operation, so we’ve been able to reduce their contribution by $25,000. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Anderson. Next, I have Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I’m wondering if since we’re on the finance component of Housing Corporation, if the Housing Corporation could let us know what the current balance of total arrears are for the Housing Corporation. I would think that that would be the 201516 year, probably. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister.
Mr. Anderson will answer that question.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Anderson.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. As an organization, we’ve been putting in a lot of energy and effort into improving collection rates that we expect to be over, actually over 100 per cent of assessments for fiscal year 201516. We’re still in the process of finalizing all the audits for this last fiscal year to get the final numbers, and that we’re ready for the fall as part of our annual report. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Anderson. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m pleased to hear from the department that they’re starting to improve their collection rates. I would make the assumption then that the arrears balance is improving. Without giving numbers then specifically because you can’t, can the department comment as it relates to the balance going improving, or is it increasing? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The department has made a really conscious effort into the collection of arrears, so at this point, it is improving. However, as Mr. Anderson has pointed out, we’re kind of at the process of getting the new CRA assessments, so we’re not too sure what we’ll be faced coming forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I look forward to that information. Mr. Chair, I want to go back just for a moment to vacant units. We’re still…. The infrastructure component here, the budget. I know that the Minister committed to providing a list to committee. However, I would think that here and now, the Housing Corporation would be able to tell us a few things. One is how many vacant units do we actually have currently of all of our assets? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Currently, we have 2,420 public housing units. Fifty of those units are vacant and ready for occupancy, which is a two per cent vacancy rate. One hundred and thirty five units are under repair. I do want to say that people assume that all vacant units in the communities are public housing, but many of them are privately owned. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for the reply. Of the assets that we have under homeownership, how many of those are vacant? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Currently, there’s 43, but they’re just coming on stream, so that is why we have so many, and it’s 13 per cent vacancy rate. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. How many units do we have of our assets that are, I’ll call it boarded up, that are scheduled for demolition? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. At this point, we have 106 units that are boarded up, ready for demolition throughout the communities. However, when I say demolition, we do try to provide them to community groups, people within the programs, to see if we can help them purchase them. The demolition is actually a last resort. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Lastly on vacant units, of the 400 market housing units that we own in the communities, how many of those are currently unoccupied? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The marketing housing, the ones that we own, we have 43 vacant. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Follow-up, Mr. Vanthuyne?
Yes, and just to close it, it would be appreciated if the department could still follow-up with the list on breaking that out for us community by community, it would be greatly appreciated. That’s all the questions that I have for this page right now, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Would the Minister like to respond?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, we will provide that to the Members.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson, another go on this page?
One more, just a follow-up question I hope, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
Go ahead, Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. You talked about getting it to us. When can we expect to get this information? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Within a month the Members will have that information. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the Minister for that. That would have been I guess some encouragement for next time, maybe have the information available when we’re doing the business plans for next year, if that could be possible? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, we commit to that. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Nothing further from Mr. Thompson. Mr. O’Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I apologize; I neglected to ask the Minister and her staff, there was a reduction of $115,000 for pre-1986 private non-profit housing under the contribution section. Can someone explain that to me, please? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. O’Reilly. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That was actually federal money that was one-time funded. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. O’Reilly.
No more questions, sorry.
Thank you, Mr. O’Reilly. Shall we move on to page 366, operations expenditure summary? Do you have comments or questions on page 366? I see no comments or questions. I will call this page NWT Housing Corporation, finance and infrastructure services, operations expenditure summary, total activity, $21,532,000. Agreed?
Agreed
We will move on to programs and district operations on page 370. We will defer the total activity until we complete the discussion or the detail. On page 371, any comments or questions on 371? I’ll give committee a moment. Mr. Vanthuyne.
