Pasco County commissioners pressed the Pasco County Housing Authority on federal rules that let people from outside the county apply for Housing Choice Vouchers and on how the authority advertises its waiting list.

The discussion at the Sept. meeting centered on how the voucher program — often called Section 8 and governed by HUD’s regulations in 24 CFR — is administered locally and whether the county can prioritize local residents more strongly. Interim Community Development Director Mary Theriong and Pasco County Housing Authority board chair David Lambert briefed the commission and answered commissioners’ questions.

Commissioners said they were concerned that the authority’s required national advertising and a one-day residency standard for local preference expose scarce housing assistance to people who recently arrived from other jurisdictions. Lambert and staff said HUD and the Code of Federal Regulations require portability and prevent HUD-funded housing authorities from imposing a residency-only waiting list; the housing authority said it had asked HUD for a determination and received the same ruling that the county cannot bar nonresidents from the wait list.

Lambert described the authority’s local preference policy (a documented administrative preference that moves Pasco residents and Pasco workers ahead on the lottery-selected wait list), explained that the agency conducts a lottery draw intended to supply roughly 18–24 months of applicants (around 1,000 names), and said the authority notifies local nonprofits and publishes notices (including in the Tampa Bay Times) when the wait list opens. He said the authority also vets applicants and that portability instances are a small share of total vouchers — the authority estimated roughly 30–35 vouchers had ported out in recent years.

Commissioners asked about whether the county or regional groups could pursue changes at the federal level. Several commissioners urged the county to work through FACT (Florida Association of Counties/FACT) and the National Association of Counties (NACo) to seek changes to portability and residency rules. A commissioner said FACT would draft a resolution and pursue it through NACo if the board provided support.

Lambert also outlined grant-supported local projects the housing authority manages or helped enable — including a planned veterans housing development of 39 units funded in part by a congressional award (described during the presentation) and other local partnerships such as Vincent House and Benson House. He framed the authority’s work as pairing vouchers and local programs (family self-sufficiency, partnerships with Youth and Family Alternatives, and community development block grant funding) to help households move from subsidized housing toward self-sufficiency.

No formal board action or change to the county’s policy was taken at the meeting. Commissioners directed staff to work with appropriate county associations to draft advocacy language and return with options for county-supported advocacy at the state and national level.