Agencies Lack Funds, Housing Officials Say
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WASHINGTON — Nearly 52,000 families could be forced to pay more rent because housing agencies are short $93 million to pay for a voucher program that helps primarily poor Americans, according to a group of housing officials.
“The biggest concern is that there is a precipitous drop in the ability to serve low-income households around the country,” said Saul Ramirez, executive director of the National Assn. of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, which is holding its annual conference in Baltimore.
Complicated Section 8 housing voucher guidelines prevent about $300 million in surpluses from being used to bridge the shortfall, the group says.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development disputed the figure, saying that no money had been returned to the Treasury this year and that surpluses would not be totaled until next fall.
About 2 million families, mainly poor, use Section 8 rental vouchers at a cost of $14.5 billion and account for more than half of the HUD budget.
The Bush administration and many congressional Republicans have said that Section 8 costs must be contained, while congressional Democrats and advocacy groups say the program is severely shortchanged.
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