Mayor Eric Adams is proposing a rules change to the City FHEPS program that would change the tenant contribution from 30% to 40% for households in the program for six years or more and have earned income.
NYHC opposes the proposed change because it will increase burdens of low income households while providing very little benefit to the city.
While we understand that the cost of City FHEPS is increasing, we believe this change will save the city very little money. Increasing the household’s contribution to 40% from 30% could save the city at most several million dollars per year in the short term, which is a very small share of the cost of the program.
The small city savings would have an outsized detrimental impact on families that the program intends to help. It would make these families rent burdened, decrease available money for the household to spend on other necessities like food and health care, and put these households at risk of homelessness.
NYHC is submitting comments opposing the change. See our comments here.