Local
Home Forward plans layoffs and rent changes as it confronts $38 million gap
Portland’s housing authority says its projected 2027 deficit is $38 million, while its current-year shortfall has also grown to nearly that amount. Planned responses include layoffs, cuts to administrative spending and higher rent contributions for many subsidized households.
Home Forward, Portland’s public housing authority, says it is facing a projected $38 million budget deficit going into 2027—worse than agency leaders had previously understood. Its current-year shortfall has also climbed from an initial estimate of $13.8 million to nearly $38 million, interim executive director Michael Buonocore told staff in an Oct. 26 email.
The agency is preparing layoffs, which it said would be announced Nov. 2, along with sharply reduced spending on administrative costs such as training and travel. Executive staff, including Buonocore, are also expected to take furlough days.
Home Forward is considering increasing the share of monthly income that many subsidized tenants and housing-voucher holders pay toward rent. The change is expected to affect about 12,356 households early next year and save the agency an estimated $6 million, according to a Home Forward spokesman cited in prior reporting.
Buonocore said the agency’s earlier understanding of its finances had understated the problem. “Our deficit situation is worse than we understood it to be this summer, which puts us in an even more difficult scenario for next year,” he wrote. Consultants are helping review the agency’s finances, and Home Forward is working to improve its budget forecasting and planning, he said.
A possible $28 million payment from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development could reduce the current-year shortfall. The funding is intended for housing authorities whose costs of administering housing vouchers exceed HUD’s reimbursement rate, but it has not been guaranteed.
Home Forward has also used reserves to cover rising expenses, including security, insurance and maintenance. Buonocore called that approach financially unsustainable and said temporary fixes would not resolve the agency’s structural budget problems.
The authority is exploring a change to its federal Moving to Work designation, which it has held since 1999 and which gives it more flexibility in using federal funds. Buonocore said a change could reset the baseline for voucher funding and potentially bring in more money, though it would not eliminate the deficit.
Buonocore became interim director in May after former chief executive Ivory Mathews resigned. The agency’s board brought him in to stabilize an organization contending with financial pressure, low staff morale and buildings in poor condition. The planned rent changes and potential layoffs come as Home Forward seeks to close the gap while continuing to provide housing assistance to thousands of local households.