Housing authority adopts FY2026 budget; HUD releases modest increase in budget authority

The Jefferson County Housing Authority Board adopted its fiscal year 2026 budget after Finance staff presented a conservative plan that anticipates higher maintenance and legal costs and includes staffing adjustments for deferred maintenance work.

Finance staff noted uncertainty in federal administrative fees and presented the budget using conservative assumptions. During the meeting packet printing, staff said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released the authority’s 2025 budget authority, which increased by $260,000 over the prior year; staff did not update the printed budget to reflect that change because the increase would largely net to zero using HUD-held program reserves.

The proposed FY2026 consolidated budget anticipates modest increases in rent and client income and lists developer fees as a source of one-time other income tied to imminent closings on certain development deals. Expense increases shown in the budget were driven by two new maintenance positions — one to address deferred maintenance and one to support the Mutual Self Help program — and by a tiered cost-of-living adjustment for exempt staff and bargaining-unit cost of living adjustments.

Finance staff told commissioners the budget is designed to be conservative given the unsettled federal funding picture. The board voted in favor of the resolution to adopt the budget by voice vote. No roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.

Staff said the authority may still draw on administrative reserves depending on final HUD administrative-fee determinations and that additional detail on assumptions is available in the budget packet.