The Vicksburg Housing Authority will have to undergo an energy audit at the beginning of next year, the authority’s board of directors learned Tuesday.

VHA executive director Ben Washington said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-mandated energy audit and green assessment would require the housing authority to hire a consultant to evaluate the energy efficiency of each of VHA’s properties and recommend improvements to make them more efficient.

He said the audit is expected to be done in January and cost an estimated $30,000. He added the improvements will be made over a 10-year period and are expected to save the housing authority about $800,000 a year in energy costs.

“What the consultant will do is look at the properties and put them all on a spread sheet and recommend upgrades,” Washington said. “Some of the changes will be in capital expenses, like buying more energy efficient appliances when we have to replace them, and installing more energy efficient fixtures like lights.”

He said VHA is expected to go out for bids to hire a consultant in November.

In another matter, the board learned the housing authority finished August with an $11,000 surplus, giving VHA a year-to-date surplus of $110,000. Washington said the housing authority finished fiscal 2013 with a $30,000 surplus, adding he intends to take part of the 2014 surplus and invest it in a certificate of deposit for employees’ retirement.

“We’ve been cautious with our spending because of cuts we’ve received in our supplements,” he said. “Other housing authorities are doing the same thing.”

Another reason for being conservative he said, is the potential that VHA could be selected to participate in a second round of the Rental Assistance Demonstration, or RAD program.

The experimental HUD program is geared to move housing from “public housing” to “Section 8” so structures can be brought up to HUD standards. VHA missed out on the first round, which ended in January. Washington said a second round could occur in the spring and could include VHA.

“It wouldn’t be a good idea to spend money on projects and then have to do them over again,” he said.