Massachusetts residents who receive federal housing assistance under the Section 8 program can breathe easy for now, after housing officials announced last week that they will reallocate extra funds to make up for much of a $3.1 million cut to the program.
Gov. Mitt Romney, Mayor Thomas Menino and Boston city councilors all voiced concern in statements last week after $3.1 million was cut from the Section 8 housing voucher program for homeless families – a cut that some said could have left more than 2,000 Massachusetts families homeless.
The cut was reduced to $500,000 on Friday afternoon when Romney announced that HUD officials would reallocate $2.6 million dollars to housing vouchers from unused housing program funds.
Even after transferring funds, some families may still be left unable to pay for housing, according to the nonprofit Citizen’s Housing and Planning Association spokeswoman Cindy Rowe.
“The reallocation is a very short-term fix helping many of the families affected by the cuts,” she said. “But that leaves almost 700 families in Massachusetts at risk for homelessness, and there is still work that needs to be done.”
Nearly 2,000 people showed up to protest the cuts at the Statehouse during a hearing regarding the Section 8 reduction last Friday, according to Department of Housing and Community Development spokeswoman Beth Bresnahan.
“We were expecting a large turnout on Friday because this is a highly controversial and emotional issue,” she said. “But we were surprised when 2,000 people showed up at the Statehouse – a mix of tenants, legislators and all kinds of people concerned with the budget reduction.”
Section 8 housing vouchers are issued under a federally funded program to families who can use the vouchers at participating residences to buy or rent homes. A tenant pays 30 percent of his or her income to the landlord and then funds from HUD cover the remainder of the cost.
Bresnahan said the budget cut blindsided the DHCD.
“The initial budget reduction came as a complete surprise,” she said. “We were notified via conference call with no written guidance as to how to cover this shortfall.”
Bresnahan also said the DHCD and Romney are certain that the new allocation of money means there is no chance that the funds cut will be restored and are now being forced to make up for the continued loss of half a million dollars.
“With 650 households at risk, the administration has instead turned their attention to finding more funding for these families,” she said. “We are exploring the options and all legalities at this time and are hoping come June 30 that we will have found a solution.”
But HUD spokeswoman Christine Foye said that no matter the outcome, no families would be left on the streets.
“At this point, I don’t think any families will lose housing,” she said. “HUD is strongly encouraging the state to use reserve money to make up for the shortfall in funds.”
HUD shocked many states last week by announcing that it was re-interpreting subsidized housing laws – a move allowed by new federal legislation.
The new evaluation left states like Massachusetts with funding gaps that could potentially leave hundreds of Massachusetts families homeless on June 30, the end of the state’s fiscal year.
Many Massachusetts legislators immediately sent letters of opposition to agencies involved in the cuts, which were announced April 12, in hopes of reversing them. Romney sent letters to HUD and Bay State congressmen, urging them to oppose the budget reductions.
In addition to the letters Romney sent, the Boston City Council also sent letters to the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development. In the letter, the councilors expressed concern for Boston residents and asked that the DHCD take all possible steps to minimize the cut’s impact on Massachusetts families.