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Housing Authority approves rent, payment standard, utility and procurement updates
Summary
At its Oct. 23 meeting the board adopted updated flat rents and payment standards effective Jan. 1, 2026; revised utility allowances; renewed liability insurance; and authorized contracts for painting and an enterprise Microsoft license agreement.
The Housing Authority of the City and County of San Francisco on Oct. 23 adopted a set of administrative and procurement items intended to align local programs with HUD's 2026 Fair Market Rents and to maintain operations.
Kendra Crawford, the authority's housing operations director, presented a flat-rent schedule for the authority's public housing stock (331 units across Plaza East and North Beach) to be effective Jan. 1, 2026. Crawford said the schedule is derived from HUD FMRs and that most flat-rent increases are under $20; residents may select either income-based rent or the flat-rent option at recertification. "This is a resolution to update the flat rents for the public housing stock," Crawford said.
On the Housing Choice Voucher program, staff recommended moving to a payment-standard policy using 110% of HUD's 2026 FMRs rather than seeking a 120% waiver; staff said the change is intended to restrain Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) growth amid a federal budget shortfall and uncertain HUD funding. Commissioners discussed potential utilization effects and the trade-off between incentivizing landlords and limiting HAP expenditures; a public commenter, Margaret McNulty of Resident Council Advisors, warned rising FMRs could widen the affordability gap.
The board adopted updated utility allowances for both voucher participants and public-housing residents, reflecting a consultant study of consumption and utility rate changes and distinguishing allowances by site and bedroom size.
On procurement and operations, the board authorized renewal of the authority's commercial general liability insurance policy through the Housing Authority Risk Retention Group; approved a Plaza East exterior painting contract with Valdez Painting Inc.; and authorized a three-year Microsoft enterprise license agreement covering Microsoft 365, Teams, SharePoint, Windows Server, Visio and Copilot. Staff presentations included contract amounts listed on the agenda; the transcript records some inconsistent staff references to the Microsoft contract ceiling, which staff clarified during discussion.
Each of these items passed by unanimous roll call vote.
