THE PUBLIC HOUSING DEBATE CONTENTS: Introduction Does Texas need public housing? Problems facing public housing The past: Beginnings of public housing Public Works Administration builds public housing Housing Act of 1937 Public housing in Texas Special interest, race and local control Solutions to fix public housing Postscript: Allen Parkway Village today For more information TxLIHIS' work in public housing copyright 1998 Texas Low Income Housing Information Service

Problems facing public housing The economic problem facing public housing Few, if any local funds go to support public housing in Texas. The program is funded almost exclusively by the federal government. The recent federal budget cuts and the move to achieve a balanced federal budget have brought about significant cuts in federal funding for public housing. The following summary, prepared by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, describes the economic problems facing public housing authorities. Public Housing Operating Subsidies: Operating subsidies make up the difference between the expenses of managing and maintaining public housing developments and the rents paid by low income residents. The funds pay for necessary expenses, such as lighting, heat, water, trash collection, repairs, repainting of turnover units, grounds maintenance, hallway cleaning, other routine costs, and management. However, the formula does not cover security and social service coordination adequately, so most authorities either underfund these activities or divert funds from other functions to pay for them. More than 2,900 of the nation's 3,300 Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) currently receive HUD operating subsidies because rents do not cover the cost of operations. However, recently Congress has not been providing 100 percent of the operating subsidies that are needed and more cuts in the future are anticipated. The residents suffer when Congress fails to provide adequate public housing operating subsidies. They are the ones who must deal with darkened hallways, broken toilets, poor security, uncollected trash, and other inconveniences. Public Housing Modernization: In 1968, HUD first created a program for the modernization of the nation's public housing stock. That program has evolved into two programs for rehabilitating public housing, the Comprehensive Improvement Assistance Program (CIAP) for small PHAs with fewer than 250 units and the Comprehensive Grant Program (Comp Grants) for the other, larger PHAs. Congress has also created a comprehensive program to turn around severely distressed public housing projects, called HOPE VI or URD. Since September 1994, Congress has cut its annual appropriations for CIAP, Comp Grants and HOPE VI by 30 percent, from a total of $4.2 billion to $3.0 billion. Future cuts are likely. Public Housing Development: This program used to increase the supply of public housing by enabling PHAs to build, rehabilitate, or acquire housing developments. Congress has now stopped funding the development of additional public housing and at most will allow PHAs to use modernization and HOPE VI funds to replace public housing units taken out of the national inventory. With a nationwide waiting list for public housing numbering more than one million households, that decision has been disastrous. The physical problems facing public housing