Jul. 4--Chattanooga Housing Authority officials plan to decrease public housing residents' utility allowance and charge a $20 fee to residents who have air conditioning.

"We don't have the money to continue paying what we're paying," said Eddie Holmes, CHA's board chairman. "Many of our tenants don't pay anything for utilities and, with the number of people coming into public housing, the use of utilities is going to go up."

The utility allowance decrease is expected to go into effect Sept. 1, according to housing officials. Mr. Holmes said it's the first change in utility rates from the housing authority in about five or six years.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development allows each unit an amount of utility usage at no cost to the resident, but if the resident goes over that cost, then the resident has to pay the difference, said Bill Lord, CHA's chief information officer.

Residents may also be charged $20 in September for having an air conditioner. Starting in 2010 those with air conditioners will be charged $20 a month from May through September.

The more than 535 residents in the CHA's elderly high-rise buildings have paid nothing for air conditioning in the past because there's no separate utility meter for each unit, so there's no way to measure exact usage, officials said.

When conducting a recent review of utility usage, housing officials said they noticed that HUD regulations required a "reasonable" surcharge for all residents using air conditioning, said Mike Sabin, CHA's project development specialist.

The utility allowance in January for a one-bedroom apartment at Harriet Tubman Housing Development site is 2,223 kilowatt hours, or about $186. The same monthly allowance for a one-bedroom apartment at East Lake Courts is 1,683 kilowatt hours, or about $141.

Harriet Tubman has no central heat and air.

CHA officials mailed notices of the rate increase to residents this week. Officials said they will hold meetings at housing sites throughout the month to get resident feedback and explain the increase.

Residents also may submit written comments to the housing authority. All residents should have their comments postmarked by July 31 to have their statements considered, Mr. Holmes said.

However, he said the rate increase likely will be official, regardless of any complaints from residents.

"Our costs are escalating tremendously," he said.

East Lake Courts residents Dorothy Roberts and Debra Henry said the increase is unfair to their site because housing officials installed central air and heating at the sites without asking residents if they wanted it or if they could afford it, the ladies said.

"The air conditioner stays broke more than it works, but we're having to pay for it," Ms. Roberts said. "I know we're just residents, but if we weren't here, they wouldn't have a job, and they didn't even ask us to vote on it."

Ms. Henry questioned why East Lake Courts was given the lowest utility allowance even though the unit has central heat and air, which puts more on the utility bill, she said.

"They forced that on us, and now they're making us pay for the stuff without even asking," she said.

Mr. Sabin said East Lake has a lower utility allowance because, in 2006, the housing authority installed central heat and air in the units. The updated units are expected to conserve more energy than those that still have baseboard wall heaters, he said.

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