City officials are uncertain how the city redevelopment authority will find a new executive director.

Art Cordwell, the authority’s previous executive director, resigned Sept. 30, about two weeks after the authority finalized its financing agreements on the Centre City project.

The authority will be a 25 percent owner of the new Marriott Springhill Suites hotel on East Jefferson Street that will join the city’s new parking garage as part of the development.

Cordwell, who had been with the authority since 2011, said he would continue to assist the board during its transition to a new director, but board members are not sure how that change will unfold.

“We just don’t have the money to pay for an executive director full time,” said Fred Reese, chairman of the authority’s board. “There’s just no money there. We may have to find somebody to serve on a volunteer basis.”

Cordwell for more than a year has been working for far less than his set salary.

Cordwell previously earned about $56,000 per year at his post, but he cut his salary in half due to the financial concerns with the authority.

But even with the cut, Cordwell was only paid about $14,000 of his salary in 2014.

Reese said continuing cuts in state grant money has limited the authority’s ability to pay for projects and its employees.

The authority saw the city’s allocation of Community Development Block Grant funding drop from more than $600,000 annually a few years ago to about $274,000 this year. The authority administers the grant for the city.

Only 15 percent of that funding goes to administrative costs, which includes salaries for the authority’s two full-time employees.

Board member Nadine Tripodi said it would be hard to find a new director to work for as little as Cordwell earned.

“What would make someone want that role,” she said. “Unless someone wants to do it out of the goodness of their heart to help the city.”

Reese said he’s certain there are people who would be interested in leading the authority, but said he doesn’t know if anyone will want to work for free.

“We’ve already been asking around (to find a replacement),” Reese said. “But how do we pay for it? That’s the problem.”

While there is no director in place, officials said it’s still best to have the authority at the moment.

“They’re still needed,” said Mayor Tom Donaldson, who appoints members to the authority board.

In addition to its involvement in the Centre City project and administering CDBG money for the city, the authority also manages the city owner-occupied housing rehabilitation program and has other rental properties in the city.

If the authority would merge with another entity, that group would need to take on those additional roles.

Reese agreed the authority could merge with another entity in the future.

“It could happen,” he said. “It has happened with other authorities around the state.”

Reese said the authority could potentially merge with multiple other entities that fulfill similar purposes, including the county redevelopment authority, the city or the Community Development Corporation of Butler County.

Donaldson said while he thinks the authority should stay independent, he added he would like to see the authority focus more on smaller projects.

“Because of the decline in (state funding), which seems to get lower every year, I think they need to scale back what they are doing,” he said. “I’d like to see them devote more attention to their neighborhood programs instead of any more larger projects for the time being.”

Donaldson also said he would be interested in moving the authority from its office on East Cunningham Street to the city building on West North Street.

Even if the authority approved of the idea, it likely won’t happen soon because the developers of the Centre City project are renting that space.

Reese said J.S. Capitol and Thomas Construction, the developers of the hotel and parking garage, both will use space in the authority’s office building at 115 E. Cunningham St., directly across the street from the project.

The rental agreement will earn the authority $550 per month starting in November.

In addition to Reese and Tripodi, other board members include Brian McCafferty and Dave McKivigan. There is one vacancy on the board.