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Solano County approves Housing Authority administrative, annual and MTW plans amid voucher funding limits
Summary
The Board approved the Solano County Housing Authority's administrative, annual and Move to Work supplemental plans after staff warned HUD funding pressures have forced a pause on issuing new vouchers; staff reported roughly an 84% lease-up rate and specific voucher counts. (Approved 4-0.)
The Solano County Board of Supervisors voted April 14 to approve the Solano County Housing Authority's administrative plan, annual agency plan and Move to Work (MTW) supplemental plan following a staff presentation about funding pressures and program constraints.
James Bizik, the county's resource-management director and executive director of the housing authority, and Celinda Aguilar Vasquez, housing and community services administrator for the Solano County Housing Authority, told the board that the Housing Choice Voucher program is funded through annual congressional appropriations to HUD and is facing rising per-unit subsidy costs and increased demand nationwide. "We have current budget pressures, which include rising per unit subsidy costs due to rent increases and inflation, increased demand for rental assistance nationwide and potential proration or funding adjustments at the federal level," Aguilar Vasquez said.
Staff said the authority is budgeting conservatively and monitoring HUD renewal notices. Aguilar Vasquez gave the board the program's operational snapshot: an approximately 84% lease-up rate with about 313 vouchers under lease, leaving roughly 56 vouchers not in use; an annual turnover rate near 6%; and an authorization to manage up to 372 vouchers with nearly $3,000,000 allocated annually to local housing assistance. "At this time, per HUD requirements, we are unable to issue new vouchers," she said.
Supervisors pressed staff on landlord outreach and coordination with homelessness strategies. Aguilar Vasquez said a Vacaville pilot is soliciting landlord feedback and that MTW policy changes include extended reexam periods (every 36 months for some households) and allowance for self-certification of assets under $50,000. On VASH (Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing), staff said the authority submitted a registration of interest for additional VASH vouchers but has not yet heard whether HUD will award them.
The board closed the noticed public hearing and approved the plans by a 4-0 vote. The plans and the MTW supplemental language will guide local policies on residency preferences, debt-repayment actions, voucher terms and issuance for specialized voucher types, according to staff.
What's next: staff said it will monitor HUD notices, report back on landlord-incentive pilot findings, and return with any recommended adjustments to the administrative plan.
