Title
Resolution to Approve the FY 2018 Payment Standard for the Ann Arbor Housing Commission Voucher Program
Memorandum
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) annually sets Fair Market Rents (FMRs), for determining eligibility of rental costs in Section 8 programs. FMRs are gross rent estimates representing rent and utility costs in private sector rental housing, pegged at approximately the 40th percentile. The AAHC must review its payment standards schedule annually and amend it as needed to ensure that the payment standards remain within the HUD-required range (between 90% and 110% of the approved FMRs). A payment standard, in general terms, is the amount generally needed to rent a moderately-priced dwelling unit in the local housing market and that is used to calculate the maximum amount of housing assistance a family will receive.
The Commission's jurisdiction includes two counties (Washtenaw and Monroe as well as grandfathered units in Western Wayne County) and the City of Ann Arbor has its own payment standard within Washtenaw County.
Based on the attached review of proposed 2018 Fair Market Rents and HUD's 2-year tool, it is recommended to set the payment standard for Wayne and Monroe Counties at 95% - 97% of the FMR, Washtenaw County at 95% of the FMR and to set the Ann Arbor payment standard to 110% of the FMR because housing costs are much higher in the City of Ann Arbor.
According to HUD's 2-year voucher tracking tool, which includes all vouchers used in all 4 geographic areas and includes HCV, VASH and PBV. The AAHC's successful lease-up rate is 70%, which shows that there are barriers to leasing up in the community. The annual turn-over rate is 9% which is low showing that there are a small number of households successfully leaving the program. It takes an average of 2.28 months to lease up between the date of voucher issuance to the effective lease-up date which is also an indicator that there are barriers to leasing up in th...
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