Hundreds of families could lose rent aid
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
Hundreds of Hawai'i's poorest families will not receive federal subsidies to help pay their rent or could have their aid reduced this year, state housing officials said.
To be eligible for the federal Housing Choice Voucher program, commonly called Section 8, a family's income must be below 50 percent of their community's median income. By law, 75 percent of the vouchers go to applicants earning 30 percent or less of an area's median income. Families receiving Section 8 assistance pay between 30 percent and 40 percent of their income toward rent and the government pays the balance, within limits. There are more than 2 million vouchers in use nationwide and more than 10,000 in Hawai'i. More than half of the users are families with children.
The cuts are expected to exacerbate a pressing need for affordable housing in Hawai'i, housing officials said. The losses stem from changes in how the federal government finances housing vouchers, which are issued through what's commonly known as the Section 8 program.
Rental vouchers
This year, the state will receive $800,000 less than last year, and housing officials say that means fewer vouchers will be issued, or the value of the vouchers will have to be reduced.
"We still have the same amount of vouchers, but the amount of money they reimburse us is less, so unless we lower our subsidies for each person, we can't use the same number of vouchers, and they know that," said Stephanie Aveiro, executive director of the Housing and Community Development Corp. of Hawai'i.
Every year, more than 12,000 Hawai'i residents are eligible to receive vouchers to defray their rent for units that meet federal guidelines. In the past, the federal government paid the state a fee based on the total cost of all the vouchers issued.
But this procedure did not account for vouchers that were issued but not used, a common occurrence in Hawai'i because of a shortage of eligible housing, state housing officials say.
Now, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is paying states only for the vouchers that are actually used during a random three-month period.
Mike Flores, HUD's Honolulu director of the office of public housing, said of the 12,029 vouchers authorized for Hawai'i during the review period last year, 10,467 were used and money has been provided based on that number.
Last year, Hawai'i received $75,282,478 for its voucher programs. This year, the figure has been reduced to $74,489,299, Flores said.
HUD officials said the average cost for each voucher has increased by an average 23 percent in the past two years and the new system is a cost-control measure.
State housing officials said some markets have sufficient rental units to accommodate the number of people with approved vouchers, but Hawai'i's tight rental market and lack of affordable housing means about 2,000 vouchers were not used last year.
Despite the difficulty in finding housing, having a voucher gave families hope of finding a home to rent, said Sandra Miyoshi, the homeless program administrator for the Housing and Community Development Corp.
"We have more people searching for homes than we have vouchers to give," she said.
One of those people, a single mother of three who had been homeless, is now living in a two-bedroom apartment in Wahiawa.
Dhellary, who did not want her last name published because of the possible stigma attached to accepting public assistance, found a home after being approved for a Section 8 voucher six months ago.
The voucher "has made a big difference for me and my children," she said. "Knowing that they can come home to their own place does a lot for a child's self-esteem. It belongs to them. They don't have to worry about where their next meal is coming from or when they can get out of the rain."
12,029 — Number of Section 8 rental vouchers authorized in Hawai'i 10,467 — Average number of Section 8 rental vouchers that were actually used, and that will be financed by the federal government 20,000 — Estimated number of people on waiting lists for vouchers $75,282,478 — Money for voucher program in 2004 $74,489,299 — Amount in 2005 30,000 — Estimated shortage of affordable housing units in Hawai'i
For more than a year, Dhellary and her boys lived at Ala Moana Beach Park and set up campsites wherever they could around the island, "avoiding the law so we wouldn't get in trouble."
COUNTING UP SECTION 8
"It took me a long time to get on Section 8, but it is worth it," she said. "When I was told I was being given a voucher, from the first day I called 100 places. I was determined to get a roof over my children's heads."
She said there are many others living on the streets and beaches who could use similar assistance.
Each county and the state have their own Section 8 program.
Flores, HUD's Honolulu director, said if public housing agencies are not using 100 percent of their money during the next review period, the money will be reduced again.
"The dollar value is what everybody is working off ... ," Flores said. "What it does for a public housing agency is it puts them into a real budget monitoring kind of mode. Their financial people will have to tell them almost on a weekly basis they are using this and if they have room to go up a little bit more. What we are asking the housing agencies to do is to be on their toes and utilizing their programs to the max."
Flores said the Bush administration has requested a $1 billion increase for the voucher program in its budget request sent to Congress this week.
A study conducted for the state estimates there is a need in Hawai'i for 30,000 affordable housing units — 17,000 rentals and 13,000 sales units.
Gary Iwai, administrator of the city's Community Assistance Division, which oversees vouchers for Honolulu, said there are 10,000 people on the waiting list on O'ahu and the wait to reach the top of the list is about eight years. The statewide waiting list has more than 20,000.
"The only time we can go to a new person on the wait list is when someone drops off," Iwai said. "The wait list tends to grow and grow. Unless we have federal funds to address the need, once you are at the maximum level, it really slows down the issuance. At this point, we are seeing a continual reduction of vouchers unless the rules change."
Aveiro said the new rules on voucher financing also are putting a crimp in Gov. Linda Lingle's plans to provide incentives to developers to build affordable housing. Aveiro said the administration had hoped to offer vouchers to developers based on their ability to build affordable housing units.
"When that subsidy is guaranteed to that unit for X amount of years ... it is all calculated and they can take that to the bank," Aveiro said. "Now that our amount is capped and we are already 100 percent of our cash allocation, that ability to use project-based Section 8 vouchers as an incentive is really not a reality."
Laura E. Thielen, executive director of the Affordable Housing and Homeless Alliance, said to continuously decrease the money for vouchers puts the state's plan to end homelessness in 10 years in doubt.
"There is not enough housing, so they can't use the vouchers," Thielen said. "If they have a voucher and their apartment building is sold, they have to look somewhere else for a Section 8 unit and that is next to impossible. They could lose their subsidy for no reason other than we don't have enough housing. The 10-year plan is looking toward the future, and if we don't have the subsidies it is kind of pointless. So many of our families depend on those subsidies."
HUD's Housing Choice Voucher program, or Section 8, costs $14.5 billion a year and accounts for more than half the department's budget.
About 500 housing agencies nationwide were affected by the voucher program cuts in 2004, which created a shortfall of about $93 million, according to the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials. An estimated 52,000 families will be without vouchers or have their subsidies cut.
Reach James Gonser at 535-2431 or jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.
