Help is available for Davenport residents who may be having furnace problems during this extremely cold weather. As part of its year-round home re-hab program, the city offers loans for emergency furnace repairs.
Heather Johnson, the city's Community Development Resource Manager, says the minimum cost the program will pay is 1,000 dollars, but it can go up to 4,000 for a replacement.
"We're obviously not looking to do a full replacement if we don't have to but often when people turn to our program that's the only option that's left because the furnace has exceeded its useful life."
Johnson says there are income guidelines, and the terms of the loans depend on people's ability to pay.
"And for a truly needy circumstance when a person might not have any income aside from disability or social security, if the numbers work out we can do a deferred loan which would mean we don't require a monthly payment but we record the loan against the property and expect to be paid when the property is sold or transferred to a new owner."
The money comes from a federal community block grant, and the income maximum for a family of four to qualify is 55,000 dollars. The maximum for a single person is 38,000. More information is on the Davenport website at cityofdavenportiowa.com/rehab.
