Parma housing director warns HUD cuts could force voucher reductions, urges federal outreach

Director Waxman told members of the Parma public housing board on March 3 that pending staff and budget cuts at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development could force the city’s housing program to reduce or end some housing vouchers.

"I will have to kick people off the program. I will have to pull back their subsidy, their voucher," Director Waxman said, describing how federal cuts would translate into local decisions about who keeps assistance.

The warning came during a scheduled public housing session at which the board also moved three personnel-related housing ordinances to a second reading and referred them back to committee. Waxman said HUD has already reduced her administrative fee slightly and that the larger concern is cuts to housing assistance payment (HAP) dollars, which pay landlords.

Why it matters: Parma’s housing program and roughly 3,200 housing authorities nationwide rely on HUD HAP dollars to pay landlords for subsidized tenants. A local cut, Waxman said, could force the agency to stop issuing new vouchers, deny rent increases, and — if mandated by HUD methodology — remove some current voucher holders from the program.

Waxman described operational steps she is already taking: freezing new voucher issuance and denying owner requests for rent increases that would fall on the housing authority’s budget. She said she is in contact with a HUD field office, an outside CPA and the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials about contingency plans and possible joint advocacy.

Board members pressed for contingency details. Councilwoman Deborah Lime asked whether the agency has discussed eviction consequences and how courts will treat tenants whose combined tenant/HUD payments fall short of market rent; Waxman said eviction outcomes will depend on landlords’ willingness to accept reduced tenant payment and on court determinations.

Waxman gave several data points: Parma’s program is at about a 95% lease-up rate; she said her local agency administers roughly 802 vouchers and that the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority holds about 17,000 vouchers and more than 10,000 public housing units in the county. She said HUD guidance on final funding may not arrive until September and urged elected officials to contact federal representatives.

Board action: At two separate public-housing sessions on March 3 members moved related job-title and position-change ordinances for second reading and referred all three items back to the public housing committee for further work. Those ordinances are listed below.

Board members also asked Waxman to circulate letters received from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials before signing, so the council could decide whether to add Parma’s name to any national advocacy letters.

The director said she will return for the next council meeting and provide updates once HUD announces final allocations.

Ending: Board members said they intend to consider a council resolution urging federal lawmakers to protect housing funding if HUD reductions are finalized; no resolution was adopted at the March 3 session.