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Q&A
Council Member Brannan questions NYCHA officials on federal funding and potential budget cuts
2:43:51
·
3 min
Council Member Justin Brannan inquires about NYCHA's reliance on federal funding and concerns regarding potential budget cuts proposed in Washington. NYCHA officials, including CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt and CFO Annika Lescott-Martinez, respond by discussing the potential impact of the "skinny budget" and their contingency planning efforts.
- NYCHA officials outline the proposed creation of a state block grant that could result in a 43-45% cut to various housing programs.
- The discussion highlights NYCHA's dependence on federal funding, with 67% of its operating expense budget and 55% of its five-year capital plan coming from federal sources.
- NYCHA representatives emphasize ongoing conversations with city and state officials to address potential funding shortfalls.
Justin Brannan
2:43:51
Thank you very much.
2:43:51
Appreciate the brevity so we can get right to it.
2:43:55
I want to talk obviously first and foremost about federal funding.
2:44:00
NYCHA receives significant funding from federal sources for both its operating and capital budgets.
2:44:07
Federal operating subsidy and Section eight subsidies make up approximately 67% of NYCHA's operating expense budget.
2:44:14
And the federal funds constitute 55% of NYCHA's five year capital plan.
2:44:20
In short, NYCHA depends on federal funding.
2:44:22
So how concerned is NYCHA with what we're seeing in Washington and the outlines of the so called skinny budget?
2:45:55
Can you talk a little more about NYCHA's contingency plans to mitigate the impact of federal funding cuts?
2:46:25
I mean and given the mass scale of federal funding for NYCHA, I think a response will likely be needed on both city and state levels.
2:46:34
How have those conversations been going?
Celines Miranda
2:44:31
Thank
Lisa Bova-Hiatt
2:44:34
you so much for that question.
2:44:35
I'm going to first turn it over to our Chief Financial Officer, Anika Lescot Martinez.
2:46:38
They've actually been going really well.
2:46:40
We are a public housing authority that is very much supported by both the city and the state.
2:46:48
We are fortunate in that regard because the majority of other public housing authorities do not receive assistance from their cities, their counties, their states.
2:46:59
So those conversations will continue and we will see what happens when the President's full budget and then of course when Congress budget is issued.
Annika Lescott-Martinez
2:44:40
Thank you so much Council Member.
2:44:44
On May 2, President Trump released his skinny budget, which does not have the impact of law but is certainly the first step in the yearly final appropriations process.
2:44:56
Congress will ultimately write their own budget bills, but the proposal acts as a guiding document of administration's priorities.
2:45:04
From what we've seen so far, they are proposing to create a state block grant that would include public housing, section eight, project based rental assistance, housing for the elderly, housing for persons with disabilities together into a lump sum with expected cost sharing and regulations across those programs.
2:45:22
The concerning portion of this, in addition to the block grant itself, is that it would be a significant cut in funding.
2:45:29
So we are projecting so far that it could be between 4345% cut to those programs and that would be certainly difficult.
2:45:40
We continue to pay close attention to what is happening in Washington.
2:45:47
And we will continue to you know keep you and all of our representatives updated as we learn more.
2:46:02
Sure.
2:46:02
So as you've mentioned, federal funding is a large portion of our budget.
2:46:07
We are currently doing contingency planning across all of our programs.
2:46:12
We are keeping a close eye on what is happening in Washington.
2:46:15
We can't really speak in hypotheticals as to what we would do given that we don't have a sense of what will ultimately happen at Congress.
2:46:23
But we are certainly planning.