Question: Have the results of the Local Voucher Program Study been finalized? If so, what is the cost to fund such a program? How much money would the voucher program cost us to implement for at least 250 households? 500? (Councilman Canek Aguirre and Councilwoman Alyia Gaskins)
Response:
A consultant and The Virginia Center for Housing Research at Virginia Tech have completed a preliminary draft report, which the Office of Housing is reviewing. Among the work produced is modeling of different funding scenarios based on households of different sizes and incomes to provide scaled/order of magnitude frameworks regarding potential program and administrative costs.
Housing staff believe the proposed design, target population (including eligibility criteria), administration, and cost/sustainability of a local voucher program should be guided by community and stakeholder input during the upcoming Housing Master Plan Update. This way, the program will be developed as part of a larger City discussion around financial and non-financial tools to expand housing affordability and mitigate displacement.
This additional time will also allow staff to further study promising models identified by the consultant; consider initial findings from the City’s ARISE (guaranteed basic income) program; and, monitor the Fair Housing Justice Center’s work underway now to potentially extend Arlington County’s provision of housing subsidies to include undocumented households.