Change in Net Position: “Net position” is the reporting entity’s bottom line — the difference between all assets and deferred outflows and all liabilities and deferred inflows, including long-term debt and non-monetary capital assets (land, buildings, etc.). “Over time, increases and decreases in Net Position serve as a useful indicator of whether the financial position of the Authority is improving or deteriorating,” according to ARHA’s financial statements.
These graphs illustrate certain trends relating to the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA). The data were gathered over several months, especially through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for numerous documents. This is the first in a series about information gleaned from these records.
ARHA administers federal low-income housing programs — namely, public housing and “Section 8” vouchers — locally. City Council appoints ARHA’s commissioners, who serve 4-year terms and together comprise ARHA’s governing board. But otherwise, ARHA is independently governed.
Records obtained include 10 years of audited financial statements and monthly board reports; “completed contracts and transactions” related to the redevelopments of Chatham Square and Old Town Commons, two of ARHA’s recently redeveloped Old Town properties, as required by the Code of Virginia; and certain annual reports filed with HUD. The Gazette Packet converted these documents into text-searchable electronic formats and furnished them back to ARHA, with the expressed hope that ARHA would post them, and continue to post such documents, publicly on its web site.
Requested records also included an annual report of activities to the city clerk, required by the Code of Virginia; annual operating and capital budget documents; and any “performance audit” and/or “review of ARHA operations, which would include findings and recommendations,” which, if performed, must be forwarded to the city, according to a 2008 memorandum of understanding (MOU). The ARHA administration says it hasn’t filed reports with the city clerk, but will do so going forward. It says operating and capital budget documents are not prepared separately, but are included in the monthly board reports. And it says that any performance audit that would pertain to its MOU with the city was “never performed.”
Answering a subsequent request, ARHA has also agreed to provide its employee pay scales; those documents haven’t yet been received.