The Garfield County Housing Authority on Monday presented its 2024 end-of-year report, updating county officials on affordable housing programs and key statistics. 

The agency, which aims to assist low-income families with safe and affordable housing, manages community housing programs for Garfield County. It oversees the sale of deed restricted houses, provides down-payment assistance loans and offers rental support through programs like the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) voucher program.

The authority also facilitates owner-occupied rehabilitation to help seniors remain in their homes. The housing authority received a $50,000 grant for the program in 1995, and $28,250 in local funds were available in 2024. 

According to the report, Garfield County has 240 affordable housing units and 35 deed-restricted rentals. In 2024, the housing authority sold 16 units and provided $77,400 in new interest-free downpayment assistance loans.

The housing authority helped house around 559 county families each month through the mainstream, housing choice and emergency housing voucher programs. That totals around 822 people, 224 of which were children under 18 years old. About 46% of all vouchers went to seniors 62 years and older. 

Roughly 43% of people the authority serves have an adjusted monthly income between $1,000 and $5,000, while about 41% fall between $500 and $1,000. The remainder earn less than $500. Around 47% have disabilities and 95% are white, the report states.

Through HUD rental assistance, the agency paid $4,476,468 to local landlords on behalf of eligible low-income families. These families had an average annual income of $18,336 and paid about $309 in monthly rent, with HUD covering around $754 per month.

No new HUD vouchers will be issued by the Garfield County Housing Authority until the end of the year, according to Executive Director Cheryl Strouse. 

“At the end of 2024, HUD recaptured $700,000 of our reserves that they used for other agencies who were in shortfall, which means they did not have enough money to support their people,” Strouse explained to commissioners. “That, unfortunately, threw our agency into a prospective shortfall by the end of this year.

“In July, our Denver field office had requested that we no longer issue vouchers in Garfield County with the exception of the ones that had been already approved for project-based vouchers, which are the developments that are happening in Garfield County,” she added. “I do not know when they will lift that.”

Project-based vouchers are attached to specific units rather than tenants, unlike the Tenant-Based Housing Choice Voucher program. Seven project-based vouchers were used in 2025 for the Benedict in Glenwood Springs and 14 for the Rifle Apartments. 

Projected 2026-27 allocations include eight vouchers for the Aster Place in Parachute and 20 for Canyon Vista in Glenwood Springs. In 2027, project-based vouchers at Silt Senior Housing will sunset, according to Strouse. 

“You can only have project-based vouchers for 40 years with HUD, so those will be sunsetting and we will be offering all of those tenants a housing choice voucher, which is just a switcheroo,” Strouse told commissioners. “That will open the possibility for additional project-based vouchers for any new developments that will be able to come into the county as well.”

The report also notes that the Harvest Roaring Fork development — located between Carbondale and Glenwood Springs — is expected to add 1,500 more units in 2026-27, including 150 affordable units.