A Lewiston city councilor recently questioned how federal funds for heating assistance are being used. I’m happy to clarify that for him, since his letter indicates a misunderstanding of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

Some numbers have changed since the initial estimates – we now expect to serve about 70,000 households with an average benefit of $940 out of $86 million available. The amount of funding used for heating assistance is approximately $66 million.

However, LIHEAP is more than heating assistance.

We will use over $7 million to weatherize 1,900 homes of low-income households to reduce their heating needs. Typical weatherization projects cut future energy use by up to 30 percent.

Another $1.5 million will be used to clean, repair, and replace furnaces in 1,000 homes, again reducing energy use. We also set aside $2.5 million for emergencies for low-income households who run out of fuel, and we reserved $3 million for contingencies, such as more households applying than expected. Significantly more than 70,000 households are eligible because of increased federal income eligibility limits.

Less than 7 percent goes to pay staff at community action agencies that take the applications, verify income and other eligibility information, and at MaineHousing for processing applications, sending payments to fuel vendors and accountability. The administration is capped by the federal government at 10 percent.

In tough times, the public is better served by those in government working together to help our citizens with accurate information.

Dale McCormick, Augusta

Director, MaineHousing