NATCHEZ &045;&045; Just about every housing complex the Natchez Housing Authority manages will be improved in some way with more than $500,000 in federal grant funds the authority will soon receive.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently notified the authority it will receive a $532,734 Capital Fund grant, funds awarded to housing authorities across the nation each year on a formula basis. The funds can be used for several purposes, including modernization, development, financing and management improvements.

This year at NHA, the funds will be used to:

4Replace door locks and aging utility room doors in the Maryland Heights subdivision at a cost of $114,000.

4Replace kitchen sinks, cabinets and plumbing in the Ram Circle subdivision at a cost of $90,000.

4Pay two Natchez police officers to provide security at the authority’s four in-city complexes and a private security firm to patrol Kenneth Graves Subdivision outside the city at a cost of $82,000.

4Architectural and engineering fees for the above projects at a cost of $40,000.

In addition, $67,000 will be set aside to help pay future debt service.

&uot;That’s something a lot of housing authorities are doing now&uot; in case HUD, sometime in the next year, approves a proposed program through which housing authorities could borrow money through banks for capital improvement programs, NHA Executive Director Alan Ingram said.

If that’s approved &045;&045; something Ingram said HUD will probably decide in the next nine months &045;&045; Ingram said NHA hopes to borrow $1.2 million to completely upgrade the almost 296 units it oversees.

Meanwhile, the remainder of this year’s money will be used for maintenance, including the replacement of such things as water heaters and ranges, where needed.

Such funds are needed not only to upgrade facilities as they age, but to meet ever-changing requirements HUD places on the facilities it oversees, Ingram said.

In addition, NHA received $17,344 for being rated a high performer during HUD’s latest annual evaluation of the authority’s properties, money that will also be used for various work items and security.

NHA manages several complexes for low-income people, including Ram Circle, with 32 units; Williams Apartments, with 38 units; elderly apartments along East Franklin and St. Catherine streets, with a total of 80 units; Maryland Heights, with 96 units; and Kenneth Graves Subdivision, with 50 units.