WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Senators Herb Kohl, Russ Feingold and Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin sent the following letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development regarding the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program. Currently the Community Development Authority (CDA) is facing funding shortfalls that would lead to rent increases for recipients of the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program. They urge the Department of Housing and Urban Development to take action to assist the CDA and avoid sharp rent increases.  

July 22, 2009 

Dear Secretary Donovan,

We are writing to respectfully request that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) process data transmitted by the City of Madison, Wisconsin's Community Development Authority (CDA) and take immediate steps to adjust the CDA's funding for 2009. The CDA is experiencing a funding shortfall for their Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program that will lead to rent increases for voucher recipients starting on August 1, 2009.

Since January 2008, each month the CDA has provided HUD with data that accurately portrayed the voucher leasing and net reserve asset accounts of the City's Section 8 tenant-based voucher program. However, the CDA presented the data in a manner inconsistent with HUD's formatting requirements and HUD considered the data incorrect.

These differences in format alone impacted the amount of funding the CDA received for 2009. The CDA's renewal funding for 2009 was erroneously offset by $349,000. The CDA also applied for a portion of the $100 million set-aside fund Congress provided to help public housing agencies address funding shortfalls they might experience due to the 2009 funding formula. The CDA's May 19, 2009 application was denied.

Today, the CDA submitted the same accurate data in the format HUD requires. We ask the Department to immediately update records pertaining to the CDA's accounts and disburse to the CDA the full amount of funding for which they were eligible in 2009. Further, we urge that these actions be completed prior to August 1, 2009 in order to avoid sharp rental increases on voucher recipients in Madison.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter. We look forward to your prompt response.                       

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