Durham council hears $1.5 million loan request to shore up Durham Housing Authority operations

The Durham City Council heard an update and request on June 5 from Durham Housing Authority (DHA) and city staff asking the city manager to issue a conditional binding commitment of loan assistance of up to $1,500,000 to DHA to help stabilize the authority’s operations.

Why it matters: DHA runs roughly 4,000 units serving about 10,000 Durham residents and is operating under a HUD recovery agreement. Councilors and staff said the authority is short on operating revenue, has high tenant accounts receivable and needs money now to prevent further operational decline or federal intervention.

City and DHA officials summarized the request and the problems it is intended to address. DHA Chief Operating Officer Ashanti Brown and the authority’s attorney Jason Brenner joined city staff to answer questions. Council Member Wrist (city liaison to DHA) reviewed the scale: DHA houses about one in 25 Durham residents, average public-housing household income is low (she cited about $13,000), occupancy was reported at about 92% and some waiting lists are very long (for example, a 182‑unit project was said to have a waiting list of approximately 5,000). Brown said DHA’s tenant accounts receivable (TARs) stood at about $3.1 million overall, of which roughly $1.4 million is owed on public‑housing units.

Staff and DHA officials described what they said are drivers of the gap: rent-collection challenges that they traced in part to policies during the pandemic (tenant rent collection was described as about 65% at certain DHA properties), reduced reserves after the McDougall Terrace emergency and other expenses. The council heard that DHA filed 86 nonpayment cases since July 2024 and that 13 had resulted in evictions; staff stressed that each eviction is consequential. Council member comments repeatedly framed DHA as an essential housing provider while also pressing for stronger oversight and clearer performance obligations.

What supporters said: Several council members urged support for a loan to avoid the federal government stepping in. Supporters framed the request as a time-limited loan (not a grant), said the funds would help hire maintenance staff and increase occupancy and that additional conditions and performance requirements would be built into the agreement.

What critics and skeptics said: Council members who said they planned to back the request nonetheless pressed DHA and staff for detailed guardrails: monthly in‑person financial meetings, required financial reporting, explicit performance milestones, and stronger lease‑enforcement and resident‑outreach practices. Several council members described long‑standing property maintenance and management problems that have undercut tenant trust and rent collection and said the city should attach enforceable conditions to any city dollars.

Staff response and next steps: Deputy City Manager Winbush and city legal and finance staff said the proposed loan would be structured with performance provisions and reporting requirements. City staff said they would negotiate the specific terms and include monthly financial reports and deadlines tied to the HUD recovery agreement. No formal vote to approve funding appeared in the work-session transcript; staff and the council concluded that further negotiating language would be added to the proposed agreement and return for future approval.

Clarifying details from the meeting: DHA told the council it had spent roughly $10 million responding to the McDougall Terrace emergency and that the crisis exhausted about $6 million of its reserves; DHA said reserves are not available to cover current shortfalls. DHA staff said $500,000 remained from prior city-provided funds earmarked for specific repairs related to McDougall work and pandemic-related delays in completing upgrades. HUD shortfall funding of roughly $1.4 million was discussed as a specific grant/program DHA has used or sought to restore reserves; staff cautioned such HUD funding carries use restrictions.

Decision status: Council discussion was detailed and broadly supportive of providing help if the loan includes the performance, reporting and accountability provisions many councilors requested. The transcript does not record a final council vote on the loan authorization during the June 5 work session; staff said they would return with a negotiated agreement containing the performance/monitoring conditions discussed.

Why this matters to Durham residents: DHA provides subsidized housing to thousands of city residents and operates units that serve people with very low incomes. Council members repeatedly described the request as an attempt to shore up an agency that serves people with few alternative housing options while balancing the need for accountability and stewardship of public dollars.