Lake County Housing Commission to begin voluntary transfer to Regional Housing Authority

The Lake County Board of Supervisors, sitting as the Board of Housing Commissioners, voted Wednesday to direct staff to begin the application process to transfer the Lake County Housing Commission to the Regional Housing Authority that serves Sutter, Yuba, Colusa and Nevada counties.

The move, approved 4-0, follows a presentation from Rachel Dillman Parsons, Social Services Director and executive director of the Lake County Housing Commission, who said the county agency is small, underresourced and “recommending a voluntary transfer to the Regional Housing Authority.”

The nut graf: County staff and the regional authority told the board the transfer is intended to expand Lake County’s capacity to operate project-based vouchers, grow voucher counts and provide services—such as a family self-sufficiency (FSS) program and project development—that the county housing commission lacks staff and funding to run itself.

Rachel Dillman Parsons said Lake County currently operates three Section 8 rental voucher programs (Housing Choice Voucher, VASH for veterans and Emergency Housing Vouchers), and that utilization sits at about 80 percent. She said the county has struggled to fund administration: the board has agreed to fund the equivalent of one full-time caseworker (position budgeted at about $83,000 annually, filled for six months last year) and the department covered about $280,000 from the social services fund for administration.

Gus Becerra, executive director of the Regional Housing Authority, said his agency has expanded by regional consolidation in the past and is experienced in project development and voucher administration. “We are experienced in that matter,” Becerra said, noting RHA currently operates in four counties and has developed more than 20 projects using project-based vouchers (PBVs).

Becerra and other RHA staff described how PBVs can help finance new affordable housing. He said HUD caps PBVs at 30 percent of a housing authority’s allocation and that PBV contracts typically require a minimum 20-year term with an option to renew another 20 years. Marco Cruz, RHA chief financial officer, told the board RHA is usually in the ownership or co-developer role for PBV projects and that PBVs can leverage debt and other financing to increase the number of affordable units.

Alicia Parker, RHA voucher programs department head, described the FSS program as a roughly five-year participant contract (with an option to extend up to two years) that connects participants to services and goal-setting. Parker said the program’s graduation rate is “approximately, like, 60 to 70 percent of the graduations,” adding that not completing the program is not always for negative reasons.

Supervisors and members of the public asked about safeguards to ensure Lake County vouchers serve Lake County residents after regionalization. Becerra said it would be “career suicide” for him to use Lake County’s vouchers outside the county and described RHA practice as treating each county’s needs separately; public commenters asked that any promise be written into the transfer documents. County and RHA staff said legal counsel would work to amend the JPA and bylaws and that those negotiations would be part of the transfer process.

Board materials and staff discussion also flagged limits and uncertainties: Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHV) are a finite federal appropriation with guidance saying unused EHV vouchers cannot be recycled (HUD guidance cited a likely sunset of appropriations by 2026 unless Congress acts). Board members and staff warned that growth in total vouchers typically depends on rare HUD funding opportunities, though some targeted voucher types (for example, Foster Youth Initiative and certain mainstream or VASH allocations) may be available at times.

The board’s formal action was a motion directing staff to begin the application process to transfer the Lake County Housing Commission to the Regional Housing Authority of Sutter, Yuba, Colusa and Nevada counties effective Jan. 1, 2026; the board approved the motion 4-0.

Ending: County staff next steps are to begin the application with HUD and to negotiate JPA and bylaw amendments, governance seats and contractual terms with RHA; the board signaled support to move forward with negotiation and submission rather than continuing county-only operation.