Nogales housing director says HUD ordered pause on leasing; agency will conserve vouchers as emergency funding expires

Housing Director Judy told the Board of Commissioners on June 10 that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development had instructed the authority to stop leasing additional Housing Choice Vouchers because funding was not secure. "HUD sent out a a notice that we had to stop leasing and their funding was going to be uh not secure anymore," Judy said, and staff will move newly issued vouchers back onto the waiting list until HUD authorizes leasing again.

Judy reported the authority currently has 192 HCV vouchers leased (about 95% of a 202 allocation) and that the agency retains the full 202 vouchers on paper but cannot lease to that level while HUDs pause remains in effect. She explained the funding formula is based on prior-year lease counts and said, "If we never lease all of them, they're never going to give us money for those vouchers," noting HUD pays based on the previous years numbers.

Judy also described related voucher programs: the agency has 20 project-based vouchers (all leased at Bowman), 15 emergency housing vouchers of which nine are leased, and five stability vouchers (four leased, one referral not leasable because of the leasing pause). On emergency vouchers, Judy said the funding was created in 2020 and "was only meant to be temporary," and the authority received notice that that funding will end in December 2026. She explained the agency did not preserve vouchers earlier during a leadership transition and that staff will now save vouchers as tenants leave so the nine families currently served by emergency vouchers can be sustained as long as possible.

Operational impacts cited by staff include: the general HCV waiting list is closed (110 applicants remain on file), project-based vouchers at Bowman are fully leased, and public housing occupancy stands at 93% with 211 units leased and nine units in turnaround. Judy said third-party inspections have not been performed in the year she has been present and that the agency is filling the inspector vacancy by certifying an internal maintenance supervisor until a replacement is hired.

What happens next: Judy said HUD will need to notify the agency before leasing resumes; emergency voucher funding is scheduled to lapse in December 2026 unless otherwise extended by federal action. The transcript contains no federal confirmation beyond Judys report and no schedule for when HUD will authorize leasing to resume.