Puerto Rico Housing Department outlines $2.26 billion recommended budget, stresses affordable housing and disaster recovery

The Department of Housing of Puerto Rico recommended a consolidated budget of $2,263,591,000 for fiscal year 2025–26, driven primarily by federal grant funding, Secretary Siari Pérez Peña told the House Committee on Finance during budget hearings.

"The department's mission is to provide access to an affordable, dignified and safe home," Siari Pérez Peña said in her opening statement, laying out the department’s organizational structure, staffing and program portfolio.

The department presented the recommended budget as composed of $15,281,000 from the general-fund joint resolution, $2,221,480,000 in federal funds and $26,830,000 in special proprietary revenue. Officials said the recommended total reflects a net reduction of $1,105,696,000 compared with the amount approved for FY2025, a decline the department attributed mainly to the timing and closeout of federal programs.

Why it matters: The bulk of the department’s spending is federal and tied to multi‑year disaster recovery and mitigation programs, so fiscal-year totals can change as federal awards are obligated and projects start or close. Committee members pressed the secretary on contingency plans if federal funding falls short, and she said the department is pursuing administrative changes and HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) waivers to accelerate environmental reviews and disbursements.

Supporting details and priorities

- Staffing and pay sources: the department reported 697 employees, of whom 238 are paid from the joint-resolution general fund and 459 from federal funds; a projected net hiring of 22 additional employees tied to CDBG and other federal programs would raise payroll to an estimated 719 staff in FY2026.

- Fund balances and projections: the department expects to finish FY2025 with an estimated general-fund payroll balance of $832,000 remaining versus an approved payroll budget of $27,317,000. The department also projects a special-proprietary fund spending of $22,564,000 with a projected surplus of $3,933,000 against the approved $26,497,000. Officials attribute part of the surplus to the Law 173 rental-subsidy program’s pacing.

- Program priorities: Pérez Peña identified affordable housing (development and rental programs), the state CDBG program that funds municipalities, emergency‑management readiness (regional warehouses and readiness of ten regional offices) and the department’s role as a primary responder during events as core priorities for the coming year. She said the department is seeking federal waivers and administrative steps to shorten environmental review timelines that have delayed construction projects.

Committee direction and next steps

Representatives asked for granular, municipal-level reports on federal program allocations and obligations; the secretary agreed to provide the committee with digital reports on the 78 municipalities and with other follow-up data requested during questioning.

Quotes

- "We are working on all programs that can provide accessible housing, whether through construction, rental projects or other programs," Pérez Peña told the committee.

- "The decrease is reflected mainly in federal funds because some programs are closing out and others are opening, and that depends on federal timing," she added.

Ending

The Department of Housing emphasized that the recommended budget is contingent on federal program behavior and highlighted the agency’s ongoing administrative work — including requests to HUD for waivers and internal process changes — intended to accelerate disbursements and reduce project backlogs. Committee members asked for several data sets to be delivered to staff within five business days or as otherwise agreed.