The City of Williamsport will get $175,000 in the city portion of Pennsylvania Housing Assistance Rehabilitation Enhancement funds.

This is in addition to the Lycoming County PHARE funding. The funds are derived from the natural gas impact fees.

Credit for finding the extra funding went to Austin Daily, housing programs manager at the city Department of Community and Economic Development, Valerie Fessler, department executive director, recently told City Council. Daily was, among a myriad of his responsibilities, tasked with finding available funds for such programs.

The funding will be used as STEP Inc. initiates their programs to benefit individuals who are in need of blight removal and who are in the low to moderate income range, which comprises 57.5 percent of the city properties. These are people who do not have funds to pay for repairs to their residences, Fessler said.

This funding source offers a wider range of income levels for participants and less “red tape” than what is required to secure U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds.