Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Affordability topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Harris County housing director seeks $5 million trust fund as ARPA cuts force program reductions
Summary
Housing and Community Development sought a $5 million housing trust fund to leverage federal dollars and private investment; officials said ARPA cuts would reduce the number of rehab and homeowner‑assistance cases and legal assistance slots in FY2026.
Harris County Housing and Community Development Executive Director told commissioners the department’s FY2026 budget will total more than $288 million, most of it federal, and asked for a $5 million housing trust fund to provide flexible gap financing for affordable housing development.
Director Sherry Costas said general fund support is a relatively small but important part of the department’s portfolio: $20.9 million in the proposed budget, of which about $8 million is budgeted for direct services. ‘‘We want to tackle housing affordability, we want to end homelessness, we want to provide the support and the connections and resources our community needs,’’ she said.
Costas described the housing trust fund as a tool to leverage private capital and federal resources to build multifamily units and close financing gaps where high interest rates make projects economically unworkable. She said the trust fund could be structured to revolve as repayments are made and used to increase housing inventory over time.
Commissioners asked how HCD compares with peer counties; Costas said she would research peer general fund investment levels. The department also outlined how ARPA reductions would affect services: a proposed $3 million cut to single‑family rehab funding would reduce the number of households served by an estimated 39 (from a hypothetical 66 to about 27 at a $60,000 maximum per household), and other ARPA reductions would cut homeowner education, counseling and legal assistance numbers (HCD projected about 970 fewer households for homeowner education and 148 fewer for legal assistance under the cuts cited).
Costas said HCD had reduced its general fund headcount in recent years to improve efficiency and absorb cuts, but added that continued reductions would increasingly affect direct services. She noted the department has spent down significant federal disaster recovery funds (Hurricane Harvey) and is deploying ARPA dollars for housing needs while pressing for a sustainable, replenishable local funding source.
Ending: Costas urged commissioners to consider the housing trust fund and to support the department’s work to expand inventory and protect homeowners from eviction and title fraud.
