The Lafayette Housing Authority announced it will not be issuing new housing choice vouchers “due to the limited funding available to provide subsidy assistance.”
The decision, announced in a letter dated April 22, freezes the issuance of new vouchers and additions to the waiting list indefinitely. As of August 2024, the authority had over 500 families on its voucher waiting list, former LHA executive director Lydia Bergeron told KATC.
The LHA release did not directly blame a lack of federal funding for the freeze, but its audits note that the authority is primarily dependent upon HUD funding of operations, making it especially sensitive to changes in the federal budget, rather than local economics.
Section 8, also known as the Housing Choice Voucher Program, is primarily funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through Congressional appropriations. Funding for the program is allocated annually, with most agencies receiving “renewal” funding based on previous year’s costs and the number of vouchers in use, adjusted for inflation.
Conrad Comeaux, vice-chairman of the LHA board of commissioners, says the authority has to now find its way forward with limited finances.
Even before the newly announced funding difficulties, LHA has struggled to provide adequate housing for all residents in need.
Now, under the leadership of Executive Director Latweeta Smyers, hired in April from the Atlanta Housing Authority, the housing authority has been focused on getting roughly 40 vacant units run by the authority back into operational condition by September.
For its housing choice voucher program, commonly referred to by its prior Section 8 name, LHA has found it difficult to find enough landlords who will take the vouchers.
This is a developing story.