HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 11052013 - HA SD.1RECOMMENDATIONS
CONSIDER approving the proposed Housing Choice Voucher payment standards for the Housing Authority of the
County of Contra Costa effective retroactively to October 1, 2013.
BACKGROUND
Payment standards are used to calculate the HAP (Housing Assistance Payment), or subsidy, that housing authorities
(HAs) pay on behalf of families leasing units under the program. Each HA must establish a schedule of payment
standard amounts by bedroom size. The range of possible payment standard amounts is based on HUD’s published
fair market rent (FMR) schedule for the FMR area within which the HA has jurisdiction. Housing Authority payment
standards are based on the FMRs for the Oakland-Fremont, CA HUD Metro FMR area, which includes all of
Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. FMRs are based on the 40 th percentile of rents charged for standard housing in
the FMR area. This is the dollar amount below which 40 percent of the standard-quality rental housing units are
rented. HAs may set their payment standards amounts from 90% to 110% of the published FMRs without HUD
approval. Payment standards can be set higher or lower than this range in response to market conditions, with HUD
approval.
The level at which the payment standard amount is set directly affects the amount of subsidy a family will receive,
and the amount of rent paid by program participants. If the payment standard amount is too low:
Action of Board On: 11/05/2013 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
Clerks Notes:
VOTE OF
COMMISSIONERS
Contact: 925-957-8028
I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of
Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: November 5, 2013
Joseph Villarreal, Executive Director
By: , Deputy
cc:
SD.1
To:Contra Costa County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners
From:Joseph Villarreal, Housing Authority
Date:November 5, 2013
Contra
Costa
County
Subject:Housing Choice Voucher Payment Standards Effective October 1, 2013
BACKGROUND (CONT'D)
Families may need to pay more for rent than they can afford; or
Families may have a hard time finding acceptable units or units in more desirable areas; or
Housing choices will be narrowed and the HA’s efforts to affirmatively further fair housing will be undermined.
If the payment standard amount is too high, owners may be encouraged to ask for higher than reasonable rents.
HUD publishes its fair market rents annually. The most recently published FMRs for HA's area are as follows:
Unit Size
Bedrooms 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
FMR/Month $1035 $1,255 $1,578 $2,204 $2,704 $3,110 $3,515 $3921
Last year HA's payment standards were set at 90% of the FMR levels and clients were generally successful in finding
units to rent in the private market. This year, in response to continued increases in rent levels throughout much of the
Bay Area, the FMRs for Alameda and Contra Costa Counties rose 16%. As a result, HA must raise the agency's
payment standards by at least 16% in order to maintain compliance with HUD regulations. Because voucher
recipients in Contra Costa did not have trouble locating units at last year's payment standard level, staff propose to
maintain HA's payment standards at the minimum level of 90% of the new FMRs. This will enable HA to comply
with HUD regulations while maximizing the number of families served by the program.
The proposed payment standards are as follows:
Unit Size
Bedrooms 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
PMT STD $932 $1,130 $1,421 $1,984 $2,434 $2,799 $3,164 $3529
HA's Housing Choice Voucher Administrative Plan (Chapter 16 II.B) provides that "Changes to payment standard
amounts will be effective on December 1st of every year unless, based on the proposed FMRs, it appears that one or
more of HA’s current payment standard amounts will be outside the basic range when the final FMRs are published.
In that case, HAs payment standards will be effective October 1st instead of December 1st." Because of the
significant increase in the FMRs this year, HA's payment standards are currently outside of HUD's basic range. Thus
the proposed change will be effective retroactively to October 1, 2013
FISCAL IMPACT
Implementation of these payment standards is expected to increase the Housing Authority's annual Housing
Assistance Payments (HAP) to landlords by nearly $5 million based on existing contracts as of September 30, 2013.
The amount increased per contract will vary based on several variables. If the maximum increase were to affect all
contracts, the new payment standards would increase annual HAP costs by approximately $15.6 million. HAP
funding is provided by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION
Should the Board of Commissioners not approve the proposed payment standards, Housing Authority will not in
compliance with HUD regulations and would be subject to sanctions. Further, some households may have trouble
maintaining or locating affordable housing under the program as rents continue to rise throughout the region.
CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT
CLERK'S ADDENDUM