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.

Here is Astorino's response to Hom's letter:

The county's position is that it is in full compliance – in fact ahead of schedule – with the settlement's requirements and that HUD's most recent letter of March 25 is just one more example of the federal government trying to bully Westchester to do things that go far beyond the terms of the settlement and dismantle local zoning.
HUD's latest action of unilaterally demanding that the county give up either its constitutionally protected rights or $7 million that it was promised two years ago – money that goes not only to build affordable housing but to communities not involved in the settlement and most in need – shows that HUD has no regard or respect for fairness, due process and the judges of the U.S. Second Circuit who are charged with resolving this dispute.

The county is a year ahead of schedule in meeting the key benchmark of having 300 affordable units with financing in place by the end of 2013. As of today, the county has 305 units.
In all matters, the county has complied with the dispute resolution process outlined in the settlement. On the issue of source of income, the matter is now before the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals, where the county is confident that the U.S. Magistrate's ruling in its favor will be upheld.

On the zoning issue, the county has supplied volumes of data as well as a thorough legal analysis showing Westchester's zoning is not exclusionary. The county would not be ahead of schedule in developing affordable housing in the 31 eligible communities if the zoning in those communities was exclusionary. The impasse is over HUD's refusal to accept the county's well documented conclusions.

However, the Anti-Discrimination Center who originally brought the lawsuit against Westchester County argues that HUD has not gone far enough and wants HUD to hold the county in contempt.

Here is an excerpt from a March 26 letter on their site: 

But the real story is not that HUD is exercising authority that it is supposed to exercise in respect to any of more than 1,000 jurisdictions that receive federal housing funds, it's that HUD still is not prepared to act on the fact that Westchester is uniquely situated: the county, unlike those 1,000+ other jurisdictions, has obligations pursuant to a binding federal court order. HUD just won't act on the fundamental principle that obligations arising from a court order that haven't been fulfilled need to be vindicated by going back to court and seeking to hold the non-complying party in contempt. This is Law Enforcement 101.

Sadly the dispute between the county and HUD has now reached a critical point where the impasse is depriving Westchester residents of badly needed Federal funds. While the verbal sparring continues the real cost to the county is now painfully evident.