Seattle Housing retains flexibility of MTW status
New agreement extends through 2018
SEATTLE—January 2, 2009—On the last day of 2008, Tom Tierney signed a new Moving to Work (MTW) Agreement extending until 2018 Seattle Housing Authority's status as a housing authority that is allowed more flexibility than most across the country.
"It is a great advantage to us to be one of just thirty high-performing housing authorities in the MTW program," said Tierney. "I am very pleased that we were able to complete this agreement to ensure flexibility for another ten years."
Seattle Housing staff have been working with HUD for over two years to come to terms on the final document. December 31 was the deadline for signing. The current agreement would have expired at the end of 2009.
"Even though the new agreement has some additional reporting requirements, it is worth retaining the fund flexibility and the opportunity to be innovative in the ways we deliver housing to the citizens of Seattle," noted Tierney.
The original MTW agreement allowed Seattle Housing to pursue innovations within its housing program by interpreting federal housing laws very broadly. The innovations begun under the old agreement are "grandfathered" into the new one.
For example, MTW status has allowed the Housing Authority to partner with nonprofit housing organizations by providing them with project-based vouchers. MTW authority has also made it possible for the agency to be more flexible with its HUD funding, moving it between programs as needed.
"Because this is a demonstration project, HUD has placed more emphasis in the new agreement on evaluating and measuring how our innovations are achieving the goals of the demonstration. These goals include operating more efficiently, increasing housing choices for low income households, and helping low income households become more self-sufficient," noted Ann-Marie Lindboe, Seattle Housing Authority's director of housing finance and asset management. "Each time we look at doing things differently from HUD standards, we will need to identify how to evaluate the effectiveness of that change."
Both the Board of Commissioners and the agency's senior staff members felt that it was important to retain flexibility. "We negotiated hard with HUD to retain as much flexibility as possible," said Tierney. "I believe the agreement we signed is a much better one for us than what was originally proposed by HUD."
Over the past ten years under MTW, the Housing Authority has developed housing programs specific to Seattle. For example, innovative rent policies help residents to become more self-sufficient. The ability to form partnerships with other organizations has also been increased, allowing the agency to participate in initiatives such as Sound Families and the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness in King County.
