As Mountain View Seniors' Housing (MVSH) pushes forward a new budget and five-year business plan that will see increases in lodge rents and service fees, it is fending off a communications blunder that announced low income seniors were losing their housing subsidy.As well, the agency recently scrambled to mitigate worry and outrage with some seniors over dramatic rent increases at lodges in Olds and Carstairs. The issue triggered a provincial government probe.While both issues have been addressed, Sam Smalldon, the chief administrative officer of MVSH, is making the rounds to all four agency lodges this week to speak to seniors about inefficiencies to the current business model and the agency's future direction over the next four years. With the new 2013 budget and business plan, approved by the MVSH board on Sept. 20, seniors will see lodge rent and service fees increase by an average of five per cent on Jan. 1. There will be another five per cent increase on July 1, 2013.“We will answer all the questions, either about the transition or the new model. The model was wrong,” said Smalldon. “Quite honestly we are in a spot, do we tell the residents all the errors that ever happened, that have happened, that they didn't know about or do we own up to the errors that we know about, that they should know about and that we correct them? That is the approach we are taking – doing the right thing. I am trying to get information out well in advance to take away any reaction or surprise, to improve understanding with the facts.”On the subsidy issue, Smalldon said a Sept. 6 letter to residents of MVSH lodges, as well as an item in a discussion paper presented this month to member municipal councils, contained incorrect information. Both documents said the agency planned to discontinue subsidies by 2016, with a first 25 per cent reduction on July 1.Smalldon apologized for the subsidy confusion.“I believe we definitely apologize for any stress, concern or misunderstanding,” said Smalldon. “Certainly we apologize for the error.”He would not say how many seniors lost subsidy monies over the summer months, or how much was inadvertently taken.“I am not going to go into the details because we are talking about a mistake and it is an account issue with each resident, and those statistics are between Mountain View Seniors Housing and the residents,” said Smalldon, adding the board passed a motion Sept. 20 to strike out the subsidy reduction proposal from its business plan. “It is simply a mistake that was corrected.”Earlier this month Smalldon was also forced to deal with an investigation by provincial officials, along with Bruce Rowe, MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, that some seniors at the lodges in Olds and Carstairs were victims of rent increases that were more than double the guidelines set by the Alberta government.“It has been a real mess,” said Doreen Battram, whose 92-year-old mother was victim to a sudden and dramatic rent increase of more than $200 at Olds' Mount View Lodge. “It has been hard on her. It's the stress. She has not been sure where she is going to live.”According to Brenda Hnybida, Rowe's executive assistant, there were other seniors at lodges in both Olds and Carstairs who faced multiple rent hikes of more than $200, contrary to Alberta Municipal Affairs guidelines which stipulate that rent increases can only go up once every six months and not be more than $100.Jerry Ward, a public affairs officer with Alberta Municipal Affairs, said his ministry investigated the complaints. He said ministry officials met with Smalldon and other MVSH officials and the problem was addressed. “They agreed to rescind any increases that were in violation. Hopefully the situation is clarified and won't occur in the future,” said Ward.Smalldon said his agency treats every concern and complaint seriously. He said the rent increase controversy was part of a current and ongoing process to correct issues, including billing, that have plagued the organization for years prior to his arrival almost two years ago.This month, Smalldon presented the agency's budget for 2013 and its five-year business plan to councils in the member communities of Carstairs, Didsbury, Olds, Sundre, Cremona and Mountain View County. Last Thursday, the budget and business plan was put to the MVSH board for approval.MVSH is heading into 2013 with a $7.9 million budget with five per cent increases through to 2016. It is moving forward with a total $506,883 requisition amount from the six member communities, an amount now used for housing subsidies for low income seniors that will be unchanged through to 2016 but reduced to zero by 2018.There are now about 220 seniors residing at the agency's four lodges, with about 69 per cent requiring a monthly subsidy of about $351.Smalldon noted that while $506,883 is collected from the municipalities the total requisition bill to help low income seniors is $641,000 a year. He said the shortfall can only be made up by raising rents and service fees. While low income seniors will also see their rents increase, it will only be about half of the announced increased figures. Additional subsidy monies will help cover the rent increases, said Smalldon.“We need to make sure residents still get their $265 a month to spend on disposable, no matter what income they get,” said Smalldon. “And the difference between what they can pay and what they can't pay has to be a subsidy that the taxpayers and what the requisition pay.”
"We will answer all the questions, either about the transition or the new model. The model was wrong."Sam Smalldon, MVSH CAO
