Tempe Housing Authority reports HUD award after voucher shortfall; leasing of new vouchers paused

The Tempe Housing Authority told the Governing Board on a quarterly update that it went into a budget authority shortfall in November and HUD has awarded about $1,200,000 to cover the gap.

The update, presented to the Tempe Housing Authority Governing Board by Deputy Community Health and Human Services Director Irma Hallaby Caine, said Tempe has an allocation of 1,139 housing vouchers and 1,073 of those are leased in the community, a 95% leasing rate. The authority reported budget authority utilization of 125.85% and an average per-unit subsidy cost of $1,432.30, a $170 increase from the prior year in October.

The shortfall and rising per-unit costs are the primary reasons the authority is spending more than its HUD allocation, Caine said. She told the board HUD instructed Tempe not to lease any new vouchers while the shortfall is being managed.

Why it matters: A shortfall means the authority’s current HUD funding does not cover voucher payments for all currently authorized amounts. Pausing issuance of new vouchers affects applicants on the authority’s waiting list and limits new placements for households seeking housing assistance.

Caine said the authority can assist 1,253 households in total across voucher types. She also reported an attrition (turnover) rate a little above 10% over the last 12 months and that 23 families ported their vouchers to other jurisdictions while 22 participants ported into Tempe.

Caine told the board HUD had set aside contingency money nationally for authorities projected to overspend, and the Tempe award of about $1.2 million was issued at the end of November to cover the shortfall. The board packet includes a January 2025 report from the Tempe Coalition for Affordable Housing; Caine said some portfolio-performance pages were amended after the packet was printed and asked members to note the replacement pages.

On wait-list management and staffing, Caine said the authority completed its annual confirmation of interest and reported that approximately 1,400 applicants remain on the wait list out of 23,100 as stated in the presentation. She also announced Wendy Reyes Valdeva has joined the housing division as the new family self-sufficiency specialist and said the family self-sufficiency grant was renewed at just over $96,000 for the year.

Caine described outreach and planning work underway, including an update of the Community Development Block Grant consolidated plan to assess affordable housing and community development needs; she said additional community feedback rounds are planned in March and April. She also announced a landlord mixer scheduled for April 16 to strengthen landlord partnerships for the Housing Choice Voucher program.

Board members praised leasing and performance metrics. Councilmember Hodge and other members noted Tempe’s 95% leasing compares favorably with the state average. Councilmember Bamburg asked whether the authority and its industry associations are prepared for federal funding changes; Caine said allocations for the first two months of the year were already in place and that the authority anticipates business as usual until told otherwise.

Votes at a glance: The board approved previous meeting minutes (Nov. 21, 2024) by a 7-0 vote (motion moved by Councilmember Hodge; seconded by Councilmember Adams). No other board votes were taken on policy or funding during the quarterly update item.

The presentation and board discussion did not change the paused status on issuing new vouchers; the authority described the HUD award and ongoing operational steps to manage shortfall rather than proposing a board action to alter voucher issuance.

The Tempe Housing Authority’s next meeting is scheduled for April 10, 2025.