HUD Threatens to Reallocate $7.4mm of Westchester County Funding

Westchester County stands to lose an estimated $7.4 million in federal HUD funding for failing to comply with the terms of the Fair and Affordable Housing Settlement. In a letter to County Executive Rob Astorino dated March 25, 2013, HUD Director of Planning and Development Vincent Hom chides the county for failing to provide “a satisfactory plan to overcome exclusionary zoning practices” or providing a plan to promote sources of income legislation that would bar landlords from discriminating against tenants who use Section 8 vouchers or other government income to pay their rent.

Specifically, the Federal Monitor has asked the county to:

• Identify local zoning practices that are having exclusionary impacts.
• Develop a process for notifying municipalities of zoning issues that hinder the County’s ability to meet the terms of the settlement and assign consequences for municipalities who fail to change their zoning
• Identify types of zoning practices that would lead the county to pursue legal action
• Provide a plan to promote source of income legislation that is consistent with the direction from the Monitor and the District Court.

According to the letter, if Westchester County does not comply with its “civil rights obligations”, HUD will begin reallocating $7,440,184 in funds that were allocated for Westchester in the FY2011 and FY2012 budgets to “address housing and community development needs.”

Ned McCormack, Director of Communication for Astorino issued a statement in response to the March 25th letter, arguing that the county is well ahead of schedule on building the units, and has met the benchmark of completing 305 of the 750 required homes by the end of 2013. According to the County Executive’s Office, “the county has supplied volumes of data as well as a thorough legal analysis showing Westchester’s zoning is not exclusionary.” Furthermore, the issue about the source of income legislation is now before the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

The $7.44 million in funds had not been intended to build affordable housing but to communities in need and were going to be used for a pedestrian safety project in Bedford, a senior medical van in Eastchester, sewer work in Ossining, homelessness prevention and affordable housing.