Madison Should Maintain Community Development Authority Funding

The city of Madison should find a way to avoid cuts to its Section 8 housing program.

The program subsidizes poor families’ rent such that they pay 30% of their income toward rent. The Section 8 program pays the remaining rent up to a maximum. That maximum is being reduced. For a family of three, it’s going from $931 to $762.

Consider a family of three earning $20,000 per year, $1667 per month. The program aims for them to pay 30% of their income, $500, in rent, with program paying the rest up to a maximum of $931. If they were currently renting a $900 apartment, they will now have to come up with an extra $138 per month or move to a cheaper apartment.

$900 is not as much rent as it sounds. These families may be paying extra to live close to work and school to save on transportation costs. They may be struggling to keep their kids in a better neighborhood.

The federal government has many programs designed to keep people in their $250,000 houses they can’t afford. It’s a shame that they're not doing more for programs aimed at the poor. Madison should find a way to maintain funding for the program despite the recent decrease in anticipated federal funding.