On Thursday, February 15, President Bush signed into law – H.J.Res. 20, which provides FY 2007 appropriations through September 30, 2007, for continuing projects and activities of the Federal Government.
It increases Section 8 funding by $502 million. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Except that Pensacola stands to LOSE about $3.7 million due to the reallocation. The problem is that the data used to reallocate is based on leasing figures from 2006, which are still low for us due to the lack of available rentals.
Dropped from $10.6 million to $6.9 million
What is Section 8 funding?
It is the Housing Choice Voucher Program and is the largest federal low-income housing assistance program. Families who are awarded vouchers use them to help pay the cost of renting housing on the open market. Because vouchers are provided to particular tenants to live where they choose, they are often referred to as “tenant-based†assistance. Vouchers can also be used to help families buy homes.
The impact on New Orleans is even bigger – from $73.6 million to $3.3 million, or more than $70 million during the 2007 budget year.
Nearby Jefferson Parish would see its allotment drop from $14.8 million to $2.8 million or more than $12 million, while St. Bernard Parish would be left with only $9 compared with $1.3 million it would have received under the previous formula.