Nevada department wants to increase efficiency of housing divisions
CARSON CITY — The Department of Business and Industry presented a plan Friday to combine the manufactured and state housing divisions, a move administrators say will improve efficiency and responsiveness to the public.
Steve Aichroth, administrator of the Nevada Division of Manufactured Housing, told a Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means joint subcommittee that the merger would provide better service and open up resources for the small agency, which has 14 employees and is responsible for all manufactured homes, mobile homes are safety constructed and properly installed.
Those include such things as temporary structures such as trailers used at construction sites or large conventions.
Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford, D-Las Vegas, noted the merger was proposed several times over the past few years and asked why it was being pitched again this year.
Bruce Breslow, director of the Department of Business and Industry, said the timing is right.
“It’s the right thing to do for good government,” he said.
Assemblywoman Teresa Benitez-Thompson, D-Reno, said she wants a bill detailing how the combined divisions would work before budget action is taken.
The manufactured housing division also helps resolve consumer and landlord-tenant complaints, and administers a program to help low-income residents pay for rental spaces in mobile home parks.
The program is funded through a $12, annual per-space fee collected from mobile home parks.
Residents must meet income eligibility. There are currently 140 people receiving the subsidy, which is capped at $150 per month.
Friday’s meeting provided a brief overview of the agency’s funding request. The subcommittee will dive more deeply into the housing division’s various budget accounts at future meetings.
Contact Sandra Chereb at scher
@SandraChereb
