WINONA, Minn. – The County Board voted 3-2 for administrative subsidies for the agency that administers low-income housing. Final approval will come at a future meeting. At issue was $120,500 in tax-levy support for the Southeastern Minnesota Multi-County Housing and Redevelopment Authority. The budget had been at $100,000 for eight years. Predictably the negative votes were from Steve Jacob and Marcia Ward. In favor: Greg Olson, Chris Meyer, and Marie Kovecsi. Jacob said that the budget, although inflation adjusted and despite new agency efficiencies, was unreasonable for taxpayers. Ward objected o the budget as a recurring expense that wouldn’t be subject to regular Board review. There were heated words on the morality, or lack thereof, of tax-supported housing for elderly, disabled and low-income people. The issue for Jacob was whether taxpayers should bear the costs of public assistance: “My morality, my compassion lies with the people we’re going to have to take the money from.”
