The need for low-income housing is rising while the amount of money available has dropped to a record low.

Jeffrey A. Feeser, director of housing at Schuylkill Community Action, spoke of the shortfall at a recent Schuylkill County commissioners meeting.The Schuylkill County Affordable Housing Trust Fund is fueled by collections by the Recorder of Deeds office. Last year, those collections, totaling $181,146, were the lowest since the fund began in 1996, Feeser said."Current collections are a far cry from the years 2002-2007, prior to the collapse of the housing market, when Recorder of Deeds collections averaged $328,855 per year," he said.There is about $161,869 in the fund now. But the agency has received requests for a total of about $299,700 in funding."It's going to be very, very competitive. The proposals have been distributed to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund board, and they are being reviewed, and the recommendations formulated at the June 2 meeting," Feeser said."2014 was the lowest recorded receipts in the 19-year history of the fund," he said. "A lot of it has to do with the housing bust from 2008. We're still not recovered from that, even though there are trends that are looking more positive across the state and nation. It appears that we're running behind."Over the past 19 years, the Recorder of Deeds office has collected over $4.8 million for affordable housing programs. The program increases the availability of housing, either sales or rental, for low-income residents. The fund also pays for rehabilitation and repairs.The waiting list for housing depends on each program's funding. In the disabled and senior housing repair program, the wait can be up to two years, Feeser said."It's a wonderful program, providing almost $5 million in affordable housing funds over the past 19 years," he said. "The $28 million of federal, state and private foundation money is used as leverage to generate more funds.In addition to the Recorder of Deeds collections, the program is also funded by private and public grants.About $3.8 million in grant money over the past 15 years has leveraged nearly $28 million in additional funding, Feeser said.