Under the leadership of Darrell Irions, Florida's St. Petersburg Housing Authority (SPHA) has been recognized as one of the nation’s top-performing public housing agencies. Facing an increased demand for affordable housing coupled with a decline in federal funding, three housing authorities in Pinellas County have collaborated to streamline management and bring about cost optimization. The Dunedin, Clearwater, and St. Petersburg Housing Authorities have worked together for the purpose of reducing costs and increasing efficiency. In 2004, the SPHA established the Economies of Scale (EOS) program.

1. By Darrell Irions

2.  Under the leadership of Darrell Irions, Florida's St.
Petersburg Housing Authority (SPHA) has been
recognized as one of the nation’s top-performing
public housing agencies.
Facing an increased demand for affordable housing
coupled with a decline in federal funding, three
housing authorities in Pinellas County have
collaborated to streamline management and bring
about cost optimization. The Dunedin, Clearwater,
and St. Petersburg Housing Authorities have worked
together for the purpose of reducing costs and
increasing efficiency. In 2004, the SPHA established
the Economies of Scale (EOS) program.

3.  The EOS program seeks to eliminate
redundancies in administrative functions.
Each authority evaluates its own resources,
talents, and skill sets, following which the
authorities jointly agree to consolidate a
particular task under one of the agencies.
These agreements must be ratified by each
agency's Board of Commissioners before
implementation.

4.  To date, the three authorities have executed
EOS agreements and realized significant
savings in several areas, including
management information services, executive
management, personnel services, and
financial management services, among
others. Administrative savings have
translated into improvements in services and
programs for individuals in need and
increases in public housing assets, despite
diminished federal funding.