Arlington Housing Authority officials at Tuesday鈥檚 city council work session told council members the Trump administration鈥檚 proposed 2026 budget, if passed, would reduce their rental assistance program funding by half.
It would also remove some funding for their homelessness programs, and the housing authority鈥檚 budget for 2025 already shows they are spending about $500,000 less on homeless programs compared to 2024.
鈥淲hile I don't think the 鈥� budget is going to be adopted, it does have some really scary considerations in there,鈥� Mindy Cochran, executive director of AHA, said. 鈥淎nd I think it kind of gives us some insight as to what the administration is thinking about.鈥�
She also said it would put work requirements on able-bodied people receiving rental assistance, limit the duration people can receive assistance and 鈥渕ake some changes to our homeless programs that we think would make it more difficult for us to serve those most vulnerable people in our community.鈥�
Remaining funds for rental assistance would also now be administered by the state instead of the department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
鈥淗UD's intention here is really great to provide this funding at the state level for local control,鈥� Cochran said. 鈥淏ut the state in Austin and the state in Arlington, what's needed may be very different.鈥�
HUD Secretary Scott Turner has said the agency's goal is to 鈥済et people off subsidies and live a life of self-sustainability,鈥� according to the . He said working with nonprofits, faith-based institutions and public-private relationships is how they should address affordable housing issues.
Borhan Uddin, assistant director of AHA, said they are facing additional potential funding issues due to the increase in rent prices.
He said rent increases limit how many families they can serve with rental assistance. And the fewer families they serve, the less they make in administrative fees to support staff.
Despite those potential issues, the housing authority has increased their budget by millions of dollars every year since 2022, according to the shown at the work session. Their budget for 2025 shows a $5.7 million increase in their rental assistance program.
Dylan Duke is 四虎影院's summer 2025 SPJ news intern. Got a tip? Email Dylan Duke at dduke@kera.org.
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