BY KATHY WILLIAMS

HERALD DEMOCRAT

Local officials say they have established a weatherization program schedule is responsible and helps ensure the program cuts homeowners' energy bills, conserves energy and doesn't waste tax dollars.

Barbara Johnston of Whitesboro said she found the weatherization program funded by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to be everything advertised and more. She said the staff at Texoma Council of Governments was helpful, fast and competent.

Texoma Council of Government's weatherization programs serve a 15-county area. The weatherization program's goals are to stimulate the economy by creating and preserving jobs, save money for low and moderate income families and conserve energy to improve the environment.

The Dallas Morning News reported Sunday the state of Texas has spent about $1.8 million of the $163 million available during the past four months and most of that has gone for administrative costs like salaries for state workers. By the end of November, seven Texas homes had been weatherized under the program. The state eventually will receive $327 million, 55 times the usual spending for the program, the Associated Press reported. All of that must be spent by March 2012 and should complete projects on 56,000 Texas homes.

Dr. Susan Thomas, executive director of Texoma Council of Governments, said she thinks the spending pattern makes sense considering that it is a new program, with different qualifications, specifications, reporting and auditing requirements. She said that Texoma Council of Governments program weather proofed five houses in November. More homes than that got energy audits and improvements under similar programs funded with non-American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. Seven were completed with Low-Income Housing Energy Assistance Program money and seven with funds from the Department of Energy.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act rules raise the income maximum for people to qualify for the program. The other two programs allow those whose incomes are up to 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. American Reinvestment and Recovery Act allows those earning 200 percent of poverty level to qualify. Federal poverty guidelines list an income of $22,050 for a family of four as the poverty line.

Since getting the funding, Texoma Council of Governments has hired seven new contractors, bringing the number from two to nine. They each serve the 15-county area, but are awarded projects as close to home as possible for efficiency.

"Those are private businesses," Thomas said. "We've gone from three to 11 employees in the Weatherization Department of TCOG because of the work involved. You've got to send inspectors to each house to evaluate it, then after the work is done you have to audit to make sure it was all completed properly."

She said the program requires more clerical employees to cope with the red tape that comes from accountability provisions in the law and expanding services to more people.

"Our budgeted goals for the program in November was zero and we got five done," Thomas said. "We knew there was going to be a ramp-up period -- staffing up, training up. Our goal for December, January and February is 30 a month and for every month thereafter, March through August 2011, it's 50."

That would be nearly 1,000 homes. The average cost for contracting work is $6,500 per house.

"You're increasing contractors' work load and the number of employees at Texoma Council of Governments and taken together, I think this program addresses each of the broader ARRA goals," Thomas said. "There may be more jobs created with the contractors and with their suppliers. All of the things that it takes to implement the applications of the projects in the homes. And of course you get the multiplier effects that you get with any job, with payroll money you get those dollars turned over in each community."

Specifically addressing the accusations of a slow start-up on the program, Thomas said, "We are putting a lot of emphasis on accountability and transparency with the use of these funds and sometimes the price of that is time. ... I understand frustration with the money not being out on the street yet, but I think that's a direct result of the time that's being put into the accountability and oversight pieces."

The numbers of houses being completed will rise quickly and that will reverse the ratio of budgets to being heavier on the services end rather than the administrative. The overall budget is about one-third administration, including salaries, and two-thirds contractors and services.

"We are going from five houses completed in November to 30 in December, and when you multiply that across the state, I think you will see those numbers turn around quickly," Thomas said.

Texoma Council of Governments has now completed 19 homes.

Mark Bullard, who heads the Weatherization Department at Texoma Council of Governments, said the program works. He said in one Johnston's Whitesboro house, they were able to cut the air leaking in and out of the home by 66 percent. The cost for repairing the house was about $4,000 and the return on that investment should be about $27,000 over the life of the repairs.