County lowers housing rental voucher rates

Santa Fe County’s public housing authority, which manages rental units and federal housing vouchers for low-income residents, has lowered its voucher rates following a drop in the fair-market rental price calculated by a federal agency.

The county Housing Authority Board, which includes all five county commissioners and two other members, approved the decreases Tuesday.

The county-run housing authority manages 198 public housing units and 307 federal vouchers.

Most of its budget comes from rental income and housing subsidies provided by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department.

The county agency is separate from the Santa Fe Civic Housing Authority — an independent organization that provides publicly funded rental housing and federal vouchers in Santa Fe, Española, Los Alamos and Mora County — but cooperates with that authority.

HUD annually calculates fair-market housing rental prices for each area in the U.S. and requires public housing authorities to set their rental rates between 90 percent and 110 percent of those prices.

Jordan Barela, deputy director of housing for Santa Fe County, said the county authority set its rates for the past three years at 110 percent of the fair-market prices to remain competitive. When HUD recently issued a drop in the fair-market rates for the county — the first decline in years — the change put the housing authority’s rates out of compliance, he said.

“Because previously we were at 110 percent, now we’re outside of that threshold. Moving into 2020, we’re probably at 114 percent,” Barela said.

The county rates have dropped to $882 a month from $900 for a studio; $1,020 from $1,021 for a one-bedroom; $1,162 from $1,176 for a two-bedroom; $1,513 from $1,547 for a three-bedroom; and $1,687 from $1,706 for a four-bedroom.

The rate is the maximum the housing authority will offer in vouchers for residents to pay their landlords through the housing program.

How much the authority pays also depends on the income levels of the families that qualify for housing assistance.

“Any household is required to pay 30 percent of their gross monthly income towards rent,” Barela said, adding that someone who makes $10,000 a year will pay a little more than $3,000 for rent.

“If a household is zero income, then we pay the full amount of the rent, up to that payment standard amount,” he said, adding they also provide a utility subsidy.

Barela said new rates will take effect as residents’ yearlong rental agreements expire and they sign new agreements.

“It’ll be from today onward, but in phases,” he said.