Federal changes to cut local housing aid

Changes to a federal rental assistance program could result in the loss of housing aid for 10 or more Lawrence families in 2005, officials say.

“Every year, they get a little more strident in cutting back the program,” said Barbara Huppee, director of the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority, which administers the federal Section 8 program locally.

She said the federal changes would result in a net cut of $40,000 from the $2.2 million the housing authority receives to fund 591 monthly vouchers to help pay the rent of the poor, disabled and elderly in Douglas County.

Demand for those vouchers, Huppee said, already exceeds supply.

The changes “assume we have as much money in this community as we need to serve the low-income population,” she said. “That we do not. We have more people in the community who are eligible for assistance than are receiving the assistance.”

The changes worry aid recipients such as Mary Bowen, 82, who receives about $300 a month to pay for her west Lawrence apartment.

“I just wonder what small people will do,” Bowen said. “People (who) live that long, need some kind of help. It’s kind of scary.”

Changes

Federal authorities are changing the program in several key ways:

  • Aid to housing agencies nationwide will be frozen to support the number of vouchers distributed in August 2003.

That would result in a cutback in aid for many agencies that distribute fewer vouchers than federal authorities have authorized, Huppee said. That’s not a problem here, she said; Lawrence routinely distributes the full authorization of vouchers.

Section 8 is a federally funded housing subsidy program that provides low-income families the opportunity to choose and lease safe and affordable privately owned rental housing. Public housing authorities apply to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for Section 8 funds, which are then provided to eligible families.
  • “Overleasing” — the practice of using leftover Section 8 money to distribute more vouchers than authorized — will be ended.

Huppee said the practice allowed the local housing authority to help more people with the available money. Those additional families would no longer receive help, she said.

  • Increases in budget will be limited to adjustments for inflation. Huppee said the Housing and Urban Development Department has settled on a 1.009 percent increase in aid to Lawrence, even though rents regularly rise by 5 percent a year here.

“It’s relatively low, given what the market is,” Huppee said.

Less money, higher payouts

Another variable is Lawrence’s participation in the “Moving to Work” pilot program. The program requires able-bodied Section 8 recipients to work in order to receive aid; since vouchers are based on income, the housing authority was able to keep payments relatively low and help more people.

The program was supposed to expire in March, but received a one-year extension. Advocates are seeking a longer-term approval for the program by Congress.

If that doesn’t happen, Huppee said, the authority’s dollars will be squeezed even further, potentially squeezing additional people out of the program.

“They’re going to have less income,” she said of grant recipients. “We’ll have higher subsidies. We’ll be able to serve fewer people.”

Half of Douglas County’s Section 8 recipients are disabled or, like Bowen, elderly. Bowen said she was grateful the program had taken away some financial pressure; her only income, she said, was Social Security.

“I would have been broke right now if I hadn’t been able to get some help on my rent,” said Bowen. “If you live to be as old as I am, you’re going to need some help.”