Chairman Graham and members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Angie Rodgers, and I am a policy analyst with the DC Fiscal Policy Institute. DCFPI engages in research and public education on the fiscal and economic health of the District of Columbia, with a particular emphasis on policies that affect low- and moderate-income residents.
I am here today to support the contributions made by the D. C. Housing Authority to affordable housing in the District and to encourage consideration of additional resources for this agency in the upcoming budget season. Each year, thousands of extremely low-income District residents spend more of their income on housing than what is considered feasible, and the loss of affordable housing affects them the most. In 2004, households with income less than 30 percent of the area median income ‘ $25,620 for a family of four ‘ made up 73 percent of all District households with severe housing burdens. A severe housing burden means that they spend more than half of their income on housing costs. DCHA, through its various programs, ensures that over 20,000 low-income households do not become part of that statistic.
As a result of local funds totaling $10.9 million received in the FY 2006 budget, DCHA has been able to maintain its services and even increase the maximum rent to which a voucher can be applied. Increasing the maximum allowable rent ‘ or payment standard ‘ increases the likelihood that families will find housing with their vouchers in a hot rental market, particularly in parts of the city where housing is typically more expensive. (The payment had been reduced as a cost saving measure to make up for the federal funding shortfall. The local appropriation allowed the standard to be restored.)
In addition to giving families a better chance at getting housing, DCHA can use the local dollars to reissue some 500 vouchers that would otherwise be taken permanently out of circulation. DCHA’s wait list for vouchers is some 47,000 families long and the opportunities to move from that wait list are few; so the prospect of housing 500 additional families from that list this year with local money is significant. DCHA can only do that (with good conscience), however, if the local funding is repeated in FY 2007. Committing those 500 vouchers is committing to 500 families, and DCHA recognizes that they should only do that if they can also honor their commitment in the next year. I hope that the Council will also recognize that.
When I testified before this committee last year in support of local funds to make up for shortfalls in federal funding, I indicated that I hoped the funding would be the beginning of a conversation about increased local dollars for affordable housing as opposed to the end of a conversation. I am glad to see that the city’s Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force has given us a blueprint for continuing the conversation by recommending the repeat of the $10.9 million in local funds that DCHA received in FY 2006 and by recommending the creation of new affordable housing opportunities through a local rent supplement program, which could be administered by DCHA. DCFPI, along with the Fair Budget Coalition and the Affordable Housing Alliance, supports these recommendations. Particularly, we would like to see a local rent supplement program implemented this year and funded in the upcoming budget cycle.
While our hope is that a local rent supplement program would create a number of affordable housing options ‘ tenant-, project-, and sponsor-based ‘ a logical starting point for this program is the 47,000 families currently waiting for federal vouchers who, due to the cutbacks in federal funding, have almost no chance of getting help. DCHA has the capacity to house thousands more than they currently serve, but they need local funding to do so.
I want to emphasize that the District is not alone in this prospect. Local and state jurisdictions all across the country face the same depletion of federal resources and are stepping in with their own funds to ensure that their residents are affordably housed. The District should do the same.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak, and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.