On June 10th, the County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners approved a $293.7 million Housing Authority budget that will help about 11,100 low-income households — more than 25,000 residents — each month.
The budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 is $900,000 less than last year, mainly due to reductions in federal funding, which cut the Emergency Housing Voucher Program (EHV). The budget decrease is offset by increases in the Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8), supporting rising rental costs for participants. In the last fiscal year, the County has transitioned about 140 EHV households to the Section 8 program. The budget also includes more than $21 million paid monthly to local landlords.
“Every month, thousands of families in our region rely on this support to stay in their homes,” said David Estrella, director of the County’s Housing and Community Development Services and Housing Authority.
Roughly 68% of Housing Authority households include someone who is older or living with a disability, many relying on fixed incomes. The County Housing Authority also supports 900 formerly homeless veteran households through the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program.
Nearly 99% of the $293.7 million Housing Authority budget is dedicated to housing assistance, including monthly rental payments. Most of the revenue, $281.3 million, comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Visit www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/housing-hub and sdhc.org to learn more.
