The Department of Housing and Urban Development has posted the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Income Limits. Income limits are used by a variety of programs across the federal government.
They can be found here.
Month: April 2019
HUD Publishes HCV FY 2019 Funding Provisions Notice
Last week, HUD published a notice titled “Implementation of the Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2019 Funding Provisions for the Housing Choice Voucher Program“; PIH 2019-08. This notice implements the funding provisions of the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 budget.
The budget includes the following HCV-related amounts:
- Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Renewal Funding – $20,313 million;
- Tenant Protection Vouchers (TPVs) – $85 million;
- Administrative Fees – $1,886 million;
- Mainstream Program – $225 million;
- Tribal HUD-VASH Renewals – $4 million;
- New HUD-VASH vouchers – $40 million;
- New Family Unification Program (FUP) vouchers – $20 million;
- Mobility Demonstration – $25 million; and
- Total HCV Appropriations – $22,598 million.
Points of Interest:
- Offset – HUD will perform a “small offset” to ensure that the national HAP proration is at or above 99.5 percent. Detailed calculations of the offsets will be provided to PHAs in the renewal allocation enclosure. Offsets will come from “excess” program reserves.
- TPVs – HUD will provide TPVs for vacant units that were occupied within the previous 24 months of certain public housing and multifamily housing actions and are no longer available as assisted housing (subject to availability of funds).
- Blended and Higher Admin. Fees – Applications for blended administrative fees (for PHAs serving multiple administrative fee areas) and higher administrative fees (for PHAs that operate over a large geographic area) are due by Friday, May 31.
- Special Fees – $30 million in funding is available for HCV homeownership fees; special fees for PHAs that administer TPVs in connection with multifamily housing conversion actions; special fees for portability (the receiving PHA will receive 12 months of funding equal to 15 percent of the PHA’s 2019 Column A rate for administrative fees; while HUD supplies these fees automatically, HUD advises PHAs to make sure accurate PIC data is entered by May 15, 2019); special fees for certain audit costs; and special fees for administrative costs related to administering the HUD-VASH program.
- Mobility Demonstration – the Department will publish a Federal Register notice to implement that mobility demonstration and announce the competition for funding.
- Set-Aside Funds – $100 million will be reserved for shortfall funds (no due date); unforeseen circumstances (application due date May 31, 2019); portability (application due date May 31, 2019); project-based vouchers held from use during re-benchmarking (application due date May 31, 2019); and certain instances of HUD-VASH voucher usage (application due date May 31, 2019).
The full notice can be found here.
HUD Issues Notice Strongly Encouraging CO Detectors in HUD-assisted Housing
Earlier today, HUD issued a notice titled “Carbon Monoxide Detectors in HUD-Assisted Housing“ PIH 2019-06. The notice does three things. First, it reminds owners, managers, and agents of HUD-assisted housing that where required by local law, HUD-assisted housing (i.e., public housing, the housing choice voucher program, section 8 project-based rental assistance, section 202, and section 811) is required to have carbon monoxide (CO) detectors. Second, it strongly encourages those not required by local law to still install CO detectors in 1) units with fuel-fired appliances and burning appliances or an attached garage and 2) in bedrooms that contain a fireplace or a fuel-fired appliance or burning appliance. Third, the notice states that HUD will pursue rulemaking to implement a CO detector requirement in units with fuel-fired and burning appliances or attached garages for the housing choice voucher program, public housing, and the multifamily programs.
The press release can be found here.
The notice can be found here.
HUD to Publish FY 19 Inflation Factors for HCV Program
Tomorrow, HUD will publish its Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Renewal Funding Inflation Factors (RFIFs) for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program. These factors are applied to PHAs’ FY 2018 HCV Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) spending to determine HCV HAP eligibility for FY 2019 (i.e., the inflation factor is applied to how much a PHA spent in the previous year to determine how much it is eligible for this year, assuming Congress has fully funded the HAP account). The national inflation factor is 4 percent, though individual PHAs will have different factors depending on their location. The FY 2019 inflation factor calculation methodology remains the same as FY 2018 methodology.
A pre-publication copy of the notice can be found here.
When published tomorrow (4/17/2019), the full RFIFs can be found here.
HUD Releases 2019 Capital Fund Processing Information
On April 16, HUD released the Department’s 2019 Capital Fund processing information. The obligation start date is April 16, 2019 with an obligation end date of April 15, 2021. All funds must be expended by April 15, 2023. A list of capital fund awards by PHA can be found here along with additional information on processing.
HUD to Host MTW Expansion Call on Wednesday (4/17/19) for Eligible Cohort #1 Agencies
In its effort to publicize the Moving to Work (MTW) Expansion, HUD will host a call dedicated to potential cohort #1 applicants this Wednesday (4/17/19). This is in addition to NAHRO’s complementary MTW application webinars. Relevant details on the call, provided by a HUD official, can be found below:
On Wednesday, April 17th from 3-4PM EDT the MTW Team will hold a conference call for all agencies eligible for MTW Cohort 1. Please join the call to get any questions you may have regarding MTW Cohort 1 and/or the application process answered.
The conference begins at 3:00 PM Eastern Time on April 17, 2019; you may join the conference 5 minutes prior.
Dial-in: 1-877-369-5243 or 1-617-668-3633
Access Code: 0397071##
Need an international dial-in number?
Need technical assistance? Call the AT&T Help Desk at 1-888-796-6118 or 1-847-562-7015.
HUD Releases FSS New Applicant NOFA
HUD has announced they will be making available $1 million in funding to support the expansion of the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program to new sites. HUD anticipates making 10-12 awards. This funding is not the FY19 Renewal FSS NOFA, which is forthcoming. This NOFA is only for PHAs that have not been funded within the last three years.
HUD recommends interested agencies begin the process of collecting letters of commitment/MOUs from partners sooner rather than later as this process may take some time to complete.
Potential applications may submit questions to fss@hud.gov. Applications are due Thursday, June 13. The NOFA is available at grants.gov.
Two Complimentary Moving To Work Application Webinars
NAHRO is excited to host two webinars on the Moving To Work (MTW) expansion – April 23, and May 6. Both sessions are complimentary to attendees and additional information along with registration links are below.
Webinar 1
Moving To Work Application Process for Small PHAs
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
1:30pm to 2:30pm eastern time
HUD has announced and extended the application process for the first cohort of MTW expansion which will include 30 smaller PHAs (less than 1,000 combined public housing and HCV units.) and the letter of interest deadline is coming up quickly.
This webinar will provide small PHAs details on the application process and the HUD required information. The NAHRO Policy Team will walk attendees through the application timeline and the commitments that PHA must make.
Bring your questions and comments and prepare your PHA for the MTW possibilities!
Registration Link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1806478211309396237
Webinar 2
Becoming MTW: A Webinar for Small Public Housing Authorities
Monday, May 6, 2019
1:30pm to 3:00pm eastern time
The MTW Steering Committee, which works on behalf of the current 39 Moving to Work (MTW) agencies, and the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) will be hosting a webinar on MTW specifically for smaller size public housing authorities who are interested in the program. In 2015, Congress authorized the expansion of MTW to include an additional 100 agencies and HUD is currently preparing to select the first cohort of new agencies into the program, which will be comprised entirely of small PHAs. Small PHAs will also be eligible to apply for MTW in future application rounds.
During the webinar you will have the opportunity to engage with and learn from current smaller-sized MTW agencies with many years of valuable experience operating under MTW. These agencies are widely recognized as experts and innovators in their local communities and at the national level. Our panelists will focus on the advantages and benefits of MTW, potential challenges, the application process, and other important topics.
If you are a small PHA who has already applied or is considering applying to the MTW program in the future, we highly encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about the program.
Panelists:
Chris Lamberty, Executive Director, Lincoln Housing Authority (invited)
Josh Meehan, Executive Director, Keene Housing Authority
Vivian Bryant, Executive Director, Orlando Housing Authority
Registration Link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8177264086922641421?source=NAHRO
HUD Posts FY19 Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants NOFA
HUD has released a NOFA for $5 million for FY19 Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants, including Planning and Action Grants. Planning Grants are two-year grants that assist communities with “severely distressed public or HUD-assisted housing in developing a successful neighborhood transformation plan and building the support necessary for that plan to be successfully implemented.” Planning and Action Grants are three and a half year planning grants that “pair planning with action.” Under these grants, the planning process would take place during the first 24 months. The planning process will identify Action Activities that will be carried out during the latter portion of the grant period.
Applications are due June 10. The NOFA and application package must be downloaded from http://www.grants.gov. Potential applications should send questions to ChoiceNeighborhoods@hud.gov.
New Compliance and Enforcement Toolkit for Smoke-Free Public Housing
Clean Air for All, a partnership between NAHRO, Live Smoke Free, and NAR-SAAH, has just released its Compliance and Enforcement toolkit for smoke-free public housing. The toolkit provides tips on compliance and enforcement for public housing managers, resident engagement ideas, smoke-free compliance FAQs, and tips to promote conflict resolution. The toolkit also links public housing managers to cessation resources and provides sample tools PHAs can use to facilitate enforcement and compliance of the smoke-free policies. Learn more about Clean Air for All at smokefreepublichousingproject.org.
The NAHRO Blog: Legislative & Policy Updates from Washington, DC 