SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — On Thursday night, thousands of San Diegans will learn the fate of their housing vouchers. There are two options: Pay more on their own or lose assistance altogether.
It's a critical decision up for a vote by the San Diego Housing Commission at a meeting Thursday. Either option puts these families on the brink of homelessness in a tough situation.
Officials said rent is rising faster than the program can afford. The Housing Commission said federal funding hasn't kept up while rents across San Diego continue to climb.
The Housing Commission gets a pool of money from the federal government. That money then goes into the voucher program and helps pay part — not all — of people's rent.
The average subsidy the Commission pays per family has shot up from about $900 to nearly $1,600 in just five years. Without any changes, the Housing Commission warns the program could start running out of money.
Under the proposal, working families could be required to pay 30% to 40% of their income toward rent. The Housing Commission said that means most families in the program will be paying $300 to $600 more per month than they do now.
Seniors and disabled residents could see their share rise from 28.5% to 32%. And if the Commission doesn't raise those contributions, they said the alternative is much more severe — up to 1,700 families or about 6,000 people could lose assistance altogether.
Lisa Jones, president and CEO of the Housing Commission, said this is all happening while more than 76,000 families are on the waitlist.
"I understand that there are definitely folks that are going to feel the pinch, and this is going to be an adjustment that they have to navigate. And our goal is to help them transition successfully. We want everybody to remain stably housed," Jones said.
SDHC said increasing rent contributions now could keep people from losing their vouchers later.
