Affordable-Housing Projects Stalled Over Proposed Cuts to Rental Assistance

The Trump administration is proposing a $27 billion cut to federal programs that provide rental assistance to low-income individuals.

The proposed 43% cut in these programs is creating enough uncertainty that some lenders are already pulling back, stalling new affordable-housing projects.

That is the case for Jeff Fox. In June, the New York City-based real-estate developer was on track to start construction on a senior affordable-housing facility in Queens, N.Y., by the fall.

Then New York's housing-development department called with bad news. The July round for Section 8 housing subsidies was going to be "indefinitely postponed" because of a lack of HUD funding this year and the prospect of President Trump's proposed further cuts for next year.

Fox, who relies on this federal voucher program to fund his projects, said his Queens development is now on hold.

"No one knows what's going to happen, so rather than overcommit, they're pumping the brakes," he said.

The House Appropriations Committee last week removed Trump's plan to overhaul these rental assistance programs, but that has not stopped the Trump administration from pushing ahead.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development, which provides funding to local governments for low-income housing, is continuing to meet with congressional leaders to lobby for these changes, a spokeswoman said. The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to conduct its own assessment of Trump’s proposed budget on Thursday.

The $27 billion cut would be part of an overall 44% reduction to HUD's budget intended to reduce government spending.

"We want to be lean and mean, not bloated and bureaucratic," HUD Secretary Scott Turner said at a June Senate hearing.

More than five million people across the U.S. use Section 8 vouchers to pay at least part of their rent. The vouchers are most heavily used in states such as New York and California, where housing costs are skyrocketing for renters and owners.

Landlords and developers say these budget cuts would reduce a crucial source of revenue for affordable apartments, making it harder to maintain and pay debt on their properties.

About $50 billion of multifamily loans purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac between 2018 and 2023 would be at risk of default, according to an analysis by the New York Housing Conference, a nonprofit affordable-housing advocacy group.

"It would be destabilizing to the entire housing system," said Rachel Fee, executive director of the New York Housing Conference.

Some affordable-housing lenders say they are already slamming on the brakes.

We're definitely gun-shy" about using HUD funding, said Deborah La Franchi, chief executive of investment fund manager SDS Capital Group. "This is only going to make that worse.

As lenders retreat, housing developers have been forced to stall or cancel new projects due to the threat of budget cuts, said Noah Hale, managing director of development at national developer Fairstead.

Michael Dury, chief executive of lender Merchants Capital, said he has seen several affordable-housing deals face delays because of the proposed HUD budget cuts and lenders' "fear of will the money be there?"

The Trump administration has delivered some victories to the housing sector in the new tax law. A provision in the law makes it easier for developers to access the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, the federal government’s largest program for incentivizing affordable housing.

This LIHTC expansion could spur more than one million new affordable units over the next decade, according to a Novogradac analysis. The law also made permanent Opportunity Zones and the New Markets Tax Credit, programs that aim to promote new development in low-income areas.

"It's a huge, huge win for the industry," said Dury of Merchants Capital.

Still, without voucher programs like Section 8, developers say that newly built housing could be left without necessary operating revenue.

The proposed budget cut "completely contradicts" the victory on LIHTC, said Amy Albery, chief executive of affordable-housing developer Wallick. Nearly all of her firm's 10,000 affordable-housing units use some kind of HUD housing assistance to finance their loans.

A HUD spokeswoman said the administration "will ensure there are proper safeguards to protect the integrity" of the federal government's mortgage-insurance fund.

Write to Rebecca Picciotto at Rebecca.Picciotto@wsj.com

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How the city of Columbia is finalizing its proposed 2026 budget

Columbia has a proposed $558 million revenue budget for the fiscal year 2026. This is approximately a $20 million increase from 2025.

The third in a series of budget work sessions was held by the Columbia City Council on Saturday, July 19.

It looked at what the budget looks like, any new decision items, which can include staff positions that are not in previous year budgets and where cuts are occurring. Other new decisions are items like new equipment and materials.

The city will hold town hall meetings on the city budget at 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on August 11. This is an opportunity for the community to provide feedback, along with budget public hearings at regular city council meetings at 7 p.m. on August 18, September 2 and September 15.

Proposed expenses are about $598 million. This includes capital projects for which revenue was accumulated over several years, but is spent in fiscal year 2026, explaining the apparent deficit budget.

Employment and cuts

While higher expenses over revenue is not always an indicator of a deficit budget, Finance Department Director Matthew Lue has previously said that is starting to be the case in 2026 . So, city staff have looked where expense cuts can happen that do not impact personnel, especially following the classification and compensation upgrades within the last couple of years.

This has included materials and supplies cuts, travel and training cuts, and intragovernmental charge cuts. For city staff positions that are not filled by Oct. 1, the city will not start to fill these until Jan. 1, providing about a three-month savings from those positions.

The majority of overall expenses goes toward providing utility services. The next are transportation and public safety. Drilling down further, this includes paying employees, providing city services and providing the power supply, among other pieces of that pie.

The city is proposing 19.5 new positions (full/part time), mostly in police, health, parks and utilities departments, according to a staff presentation document. There were a total of nearly 100 new positions, so 76.75 of the positions were not approved. This included 51 police officer positions.

Even though the positions are considered not approved, the city administration still can review and make adjustments as the year progresses. The police department was well aware that an ask of 51 officers was something likely not to receive approval, but wanted to provide the requested number to the city council anyway, said Chief Jill Schlude. The request is where the department would like to get to as years progress.

City human resources and the police department meet weekly to fill positions in the department. Similar discussions take place with other departments.

Various city funds

An exploration of city fund accounting and sales taxes was explained to council members. Much of how the city is funded is through a general sales tax and more specialized sales taxes .

The city allocates its resources into various funds with specific purposes, restrictions, and legal requirements. The city also has special revenue funds, which are also funded by sales taxes, like those for parks, but these have even stricter limitations on how the money from these funds can be used. Therefore, money designated for a playground cannot be used for a street project, for example.

The city has a public improvement fund. A portion of the city's general fund was traditionally put into this fund. The plan for 2026 is not to make that fund transfer as a means of keeping a balanced budget, as expenses are starting to outpace revenue. While sales and use tax will not go into the fund, development fees as part of the permitting process for private development and investment revenue will still go into the fund in 2026.

Expenses from the public improvement fund include public art maintenance, storm water maintenance, and a streets project, specifically the Forum Boulevard lane additions from Chapel Hill Road to Woodrail Avenue. This project uses development fees, which can only be used for projects like the Forum Boulevard expansion, said Shane Creech, Public Works director.

While the city has an overarching umbrella of capital projects, the city's capital improvement sales tax goes to Public Works and public safety purchases, such as police vehicles and the development of fire station 10 and the replacement of fire station five on Ballenger Lane. The 50-year-old-plus station is sinking into the ground.

The city, as it is moving forward, plans to include maintenance cost funding into CIP tax related projects.

Other funds reviewed included convention and visitors bureau, community development block grants and HOME, Mid-Missouri Solid Waste Management District, contributions, debt service for paying back bonds (including refund bonding, which is similar to a refinancing of debt), internal service funds when one department assists another, employee benefits, self-funded insurance, fleet operation, utilities, information technology and vehicle replacement.

Departments contribute the cost of vehicle replacement into this fund over time, and then they are purchased through this fund, so vehicles in the city's fleet are on a replacement schedule," Lue explained. This was established in 2023.

More: Expense cuts coming in fiscal year 2026 Columbia budget, city administration says

Answering other questions

In meetings earlier in the week, the council had questions about electric rate increases and their impacts, whether or not implemented.

Changes to water rates following a cost of service study mean the city could increase its water revenue by 12%. That is not the rate increase. Utilities is proposing a base fee increase of 25 cents for most residential consumers, and then the usage rates, which will still be tiered based on average winter usage. The tier prices could actually mean a reduction in utility bills, at least for water.

Without a rate increase, the utility will run out of money to operate. The rate increase and resulting revenue increase will mean a balance between revenue and expenses as years progress.

The city proposed a 2% revenue increase for electricity for 2026 only. Doing this postpones the utility going into the red until 2030. If the city were to do 2% annual increases, it would build up the cash reserves year over year. While the council is not likely to approve the 2% increase each year, it can review if the city proposes any changes for the fiscal year 2027.

The city continues to promote its various energy efficiency programs and options. When the city updates its utility rates, people have changed their usage behaviors, but that is more of a predict and check every five years in line with cost of service studies, city staff said.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: How the city of Columbia is finalizing its proposed 2026 budget

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Federal education funding freeze affects non-profits in the Las Vegas Valley

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Several non-profits in the Las Vegas valley are adjusting to losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in education funding after the Trump Administration put a freeze on some funding.

The White House announced earlier this month that it was reviewing $6.8 billion in education funding for some after-school and English language learning programs.

"We believe that we need to give youth exposure to items, you never know what's going to spark their interest," Yolanda Mationg, the chief development officer for the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Nevada, said.

There are 13 Boys & Girls Club locations across the Las Vegas valley, and they offer before-and-after-school programming for children from ages 5 to 18. Yet, a federal funding freeze has left them in a difficult position.

"I'm happy to say that at this time that we are not turning any members away. We do fundraising efforts to make up that gap," Mationg said.

One of those major fundraising efforts is the 12 ^th Annual Sneaker Ball taking place on Sept. 18 at the Donald W. Reynolds Clubhouse located at 2980 Robindale Road in Henderson.

When asked how much the organization needs to fundraise to make up for the federal funding gap, Mationg said, "I'm looking to fundraise a million dollars."

The White House previously said the pause is to review whether the funds align with President Donald Trump's policies.

"We have spent $3 trillion on education in our country since 1980, when this department was established, and our scores have continued to decline. We are not doing something right," said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon on June 3 at a congressional hearing.

The Trump Administration unfroze $1.3 billion for after-school programs over the weekend, which could be good news for After-School All-Stars Greater Las Vegas.

The nonprofit's executive director Jodi Manzella said $1.5 million is being withheld, affecting programs at 13 Clark County School District schools.

U.S. Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nevada, held a press conference last Friday at After-School All-Stars, a nonprofit she founded.

"This type of uncertainty. Are the funds there? Are they not there? It's incredibly disruptive. It's not a way to run our country and it's certainly not a way to run an organization," Lee said.

According to the City of Las Vegas, it will not be offering free after-school programs through its ReInvent program at seven CCSD elementary schools as long as "the grant that funded it is frozen."

In an email to 8 News Now, the Nevada Department of Education stated it was notified that federal funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers would be released Monday. That is the grant After-School All-Stars relies on to fund its programs.

A spokeswoman for the Nevada Department of Education said, 'The Nevada Department of Education remains committed to providing timely updates to grant recipients and stakeholders as additional information becomes available.'

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Funding freeze threatens after-school and summer programs in Palm Beach

More than $6 billion in federal grants, which help fund after-school and summer programs nationwide, have been frozen by the Trump administration — raising concerns for families, educators and nonprofit leaders across the country.

The freeze affects 21st Century Community Learning Centers, including programs operated by the Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCAs. In Palm Beach County, Boys and Girls Club CEO Jaene Miranda says the decision could have serious consequences for thousands of children and hundreds of workers.

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"It was a surprise to all of us because this is funding that was approved congressionally and signed off by the president. This is part of the fiscal year 2025 budget. So there was no reason to think that the funding would be there for us,"

Boys and Girls Clubs nationwide typically help lower-income families with summer and after school programs, with affordable prices of $30 a year per family, compared to other summer and after school programs that cost thousands of dollars. "This type of programming typically ranges from $6,000 a year to $12,000 a year. For a family, for one child, and when these parents are struggling just to make sure that they have food on the table, that they have a roof over their heads, the last thing that they need is that expense for that type of childcare,"

Miranda said, "Traditionally, you will find our clubs in the neighborhoods where there's high poverty. So those are the kids that we're targeting. We do some wonderful things, like transport the kids from the local schools. So let's use Riviera Beach or even Belle Glade as an example, we actually will bus our kids to our club sites, so that the parents don't have to worry about them arriving safely, because typically in those neighborhoods, there may be a tendency to be higher crime. So we don't want the kids, especially a six-year-old, walking the streets to come to our, to our environment."

According to Miranda, the 20 Boys and Girls Club locations in the county are at risk of losing approximately $18 million in funding that supports both summer and after-school programming.

"I think that leaving thousands of kids, and I'm talking hundreds of thousands across the nation, without a place to go after school, during, you know, just in a few short weeks is probably something that, I think, my hope is that the administration will release the funds shortly," she said.

More than 8,000 children across Palm Beach County, including those in the public school system and Boys and Girls Clubs, would be affected by the funding loss. In addition, approximately 720 employees could be impacted.

"And that means their families will have to look for alternatives, and we have a very short window," Miranda said.

Miranda noted that the organization hasn't had access to the federal funds since July 1. With the school year approaching quickly, planning has become increasingly difficult.

"The funds are passed through to the states in July, and then they were allowed to start using those funds on August 1. As you know, since the schools don't start until August 11, we still have a couple of weeks. I understand that the administration wants to do reviews of programs and make sure that we're being fiduciary, really responsible to the citizens of this country. But there's a way to do those reviews and still not cause devastating effect to the local communities," she said.

While the freeze remains in place, organizational leaders are preparing for various scenarios in case the funding is permanently cut. Miranda is urging people to contact state representatives about how important the Boys and Girls Club are to communities.

When asked why the 21st century should be preserved, Miranda responded, "It's the only federal funding that is actually passed through to the states that supports after school or what we like to call not, you know, non-school time programming, which includes summer camp, of course, or any non-school days, like when teachers have their teacher planning days. The 21st century is there to support us. It's the only, it's also a federal pass-through to the states. So I know the administration wants local control. The 21st century delivers on that. It is a pass-through from the federal government to the states, and they determine how that program is going to be activated in their state."

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