NAHRO's Opposition to HUD's Offset of PHA Reserves

From NAHRO online:

The President’s FY 2012 budget proposal released on February 14 estimates 2012 operating subsidy eligibility at $4.962 billion, yet the budget requests only $3.962 billion in appropriations for the Operating Fund. To make up the difference, the budget includes suggested statutory language that would, if accepted by Congressional appropriators, authorize the HUD Secretary to “take into account PHAs’ excess operating reserves” when determining PHAs’ 2012 funding allocations. According to the FY 2012 HUD budget appendix, this authority would allow the Department “to reduce funding allocations to PHAs that have more than sufficient (i.e., excess) reserve levels.”


NAHRO opposes the administration’s proposed offset of $1 billion against PHAs’ operating reserves. NAHRO members have been unambiguous in their written and verbal reactions to the proposal: The offset would unfairly punish the responsible, strategic, and entrepreneurial stewardship of federal public housing resources. NAHRO will advocate vigorously for a direct appropriation sufficient to provide 100 percent of operating subsidy eligibility under the current Operating Fund rule. At the same time, NAHRO will insist that the Department be completely transparent regarding its plans for implementing an offset. Having a clear sense of HUD’s intended methodology is the only way that NAHRO and its industry partners will be able to minimize the damage to the public housing program should the Congress (over the industry’s strenuous objections) ultimately accept the administration’s proposal.