The Butler County Housing and Redevelopment Authority has not issued any housing choice vouchers from its primary waiting list for more than a year.

While the housing authority has issued vouchers from lists reserved for veterans, people with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness, the primary list of around 1,000 people seeking help in securing affordable housing has only grown since September 2024.

“We’re spending 100% of the money HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) allocates to us in the program, and in doing so, we still can’t meet 100% of the vouchers that we’ve been authorized,” said Ed Mauk, executive director of the Butler Housing and Redevelopment Authority for about 10 years.

In 2025, the housing authority allocated 2,034 housing choice vouchers — a program assisting low-income families living with affordable housing in private markets by allowing a portion of their rent to be paid by the federal government — but the housing authority has distributed only about 1,850 of those vouchers, Mauk said.

That would leave 184 vouchers unused while those 1,000 Butler County residents on the primary list are still waiting for help.

Mauk said eligibility for the program, which comes from Section 8 of the of the Housing Act of 1937, depends on the income of the person applying compared to the area median income. The housing choice voucher program generally requires the resident make less than 50% of area median income.

HUD sets rent prices in the program based on family size, unit type and the fair market rent, which is set at 10% below the median market rent — what residents pay in rent plus utilities — and has been based on ZIP code since 2016.

Mauk said the housing authority has been hesitant to close the main housing voucher list; he doesn’t know when certain names will be pulled again.

He said it would depend on how much is allocated to HUD when the federal fiscal year changed Oct. 1, but the shutdown has largely derailed his hopes.

“The shutdown has totally thrown out the window any hope of getting an idea of the funding for 2026 any time soon,” Mauk said in an October interview.

HUD, which authorizes the number of vouchers the housing authority may lease and issues funding to cover the cost of the vouchers and provide a utility allowance, allocated $13 million to the Butler housing authority in 2025.

Mauk said $60,455 funds 10 vouchers, which brings the amount spent on the voucher just over $11 million.

Still, the housing authority cannot issue the remaining vouchers because it would not be able to fund the utility allowance that comes with the vouchers.

If landlords do not pay all utilities, the housing choice voucher for the tenant comes with a utility allowance – usually $500 to $600 per voucher, Mauk said.

“So the bottom line is, (the tenant) is only paying 30% of their income for housing, but that includes the housing and the utilities.”

Rising utility costs mean a larger buffer must be in place, Mauk said.

“If I screw this place up, there’s nobody with a checkbook coming to bail me out,” Mauk said referring to how the authority cannot overspend on vouchers.

If the housing authority issues more housing vouchers than it has funding for, Mauk said it can go into “shortfall.”

“Under the current administration, we’ve been told not to go into shortfall because there may be no money there to pay us,” Mauk said.

Previous administrations would usually make up the difference and fund the housing authority for the shortfall amount the next year, but a letter sent to the housing authority earlier this year said that wouldn’t be the case.

“We are right on the ragged edge of being into shortfall,” Mauk said.

The housing authority stopped issuing vouchers in September 2024 because it was close to shortfall, but it has issued vouchers from two other lists.

While the primary list has grown without any relief for more than a year, the housing authority has issued vouchers from its Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing and Mainstream voucher lists.

The Butler housing authority operates one of the larger VASH programs, Mauk said, with funding for 110 vouchers. The VA determines who’s issued a VASH voucher. These vouchers are portable, but the housing authority the tenant is moving to must have a VASH program and the capacity to take the resident.

The Mainstream voucher program includes 123 vouchers and serves nonelderly residents with disabilities. The program follows the same eligibility requirements as the housing choice voucher program.

The housing authority also has issued vouchers from a project-based list.

Project-based vouchers are attached to a specific unit, Mauk said. The housing authority works with a landlord to connect a unit to a project-based voucher for a number of years.

Many of the housing authority’s project-based housing vouchers fall within the Rental Assistance Demonstration program.

The housing authority operates 452 housing units under the RAD program, which stems from Section 9 of the Housing Act for the Public Housing Program. Under that program, the housing authority would receive an operating subsidy from HUD to operate the complex and pay utilities, then it would receive an additional capital allowance fund for modernization work.

“We are essentially just like every other landlord with the way this works,” Mauk said.

Under the RAD program, established in 2021, rent is set based on the combined operating subsidy and capital allowance fund and is adjusted each year for inflation. While funding varies from year to year in the public housing program, the housing authority under the RAD program receives closer to a standard amount each year and isn’t subject to as many congressional regulations.

“The way this works is you can’t make money by going to RAD, but the advantage of going to RAD was you don’t have to do all these different program rules that are very tedious, and you’re also not public housing,” Mauk said.