Oxnard housing authority presents FY2025–26 budgets, projects small deficits and recommends using reserves

Brenda Lopez, interim director for the Housing Department, presented proposed operating budgets for the Housing Authority of the City of Oxnard’s low-rent public housing program (LRPH) and the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV, Section 8) program for fiscal year 2025–26 and recommended the board of commissioners adopt resolutions to approve the budgets and use unrestricted cash to cover projected deficits.

Lopez said the LRPH budget pertains to 523 public housing units owned and operated by the Housing Authority of the City of Oxnard (OHA) and described central administrative costs that are budgeted separately under a Central Office Cost Center (COCC). "The low rent public housing program, hereon after referred to as LRPH, budget pertains to the 523 public housing units that are owned and operated by the Housing Authority of the City of Oxnard or OHA," Lopez said.

The presentation described funding for the LRPH program as coming from tenant rental income and an operating subsidy from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Lopez said the COCC, which covers administrative costs not directly related to a single public housing project, faces a projected deficit. "The operating budget, if adopted as recommended, will result in a deficit of $201,272 for the COCC," she said.

Lopez said the recommended operating budget for the HCV program covers housing assistance payments (HAP) passed through from HUD to property owners and administrative fees to OHA, and that funding eligibility is based on vouchers leased and a per-unit administrative fee. She said the HCV budget shows a projected deficit of $149,715 for fiscal year 2025–26.

To cover the projected deficits, Lopez reported OHA has unrestricted cash and investments in the COCC of approximately $1,200,000 and in the HCV program of approximately $2,400,000. She said using the unrestricted COCC cash to cover the projected $201,272 deficit would leave a remaining COCC balance of $998,728; using the HCV unrestricted cash to cover the $149,715 deficit would leave a remaining HCV balance of $2,250,285.

Lopez outlined actions OHA has taken to reduce deficits over recent years, including a "rethink and renew" effort begun in 2020, applying for HUD programs such as the Rental Assistance Demonstration to allow greater flexibility, rightsizing units to household composition, streamlining operations, issuing project-based vouchers and increasing lease-up.

At the close of the presentation Lopez recommended two resolutions for board consideration as stated in the meeting record: to adopt a resolution approving the recommended operating budget for LRPH and to authorize the use of $201,272 of unrestricted COCC cash to fund the projected deficit; and to adopt a resolution approving the recommended operating budget for the HCV program and to authorize the use of $149,715 of unrestricted HCV cash to fund that projected deficit. The presentation transcript includes the resolution language as presented but does not record a board vote or formal board action in this session.

Lopez concluded her presentation with the statement, "This concludes my presentation. Thank you." No vote or formal adoption of the recommended resolutions was recorded in the transcript provided.

Notes on figures: the presentation transcript contains multiple large numeric line items that appear inconsistent (for example, several different totals for program income and overall operating budgets appear in the record). This article reports the deficits and cash balances Lopez stated and reproduces the resolution recommendations as presented; where the transcript contains conflicting totals, those totals are not reported here as definitive.