The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded more than $8.3 million in grants to tribal communities in nine states through the Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG) program. The funds will improve or create housing and economic development opportunities for low- to moderate-income families, and can be used to build infrastructure, buy land for new construction, rehabilitate communities or establish economic development projects. For example, the native village of Kwinhagak in Alaska will expand its stock of energy-efficient, Arctic-appropriate housing; Comanche Nation Housing Authority in Oklahoma will rehabilitate more than two dozen houses for families living in substandard homes; and in White Earth, N.M. a new workforce development center will offer vocational training to help tribal members obtain employment. A list of recipients is available at www.hud.gov.

Multifamily housing has high potential for energy savings through retrofits, but the lack of data on best practices and historical cost savings has weakened investment, according to HUD's latest issue of Evidence Matters. Organized around the theme of sustainability, "Evidence Matters: Transforming Knowledge into Housing and Community Development Policy," examines energy efficiency in multifamily housing, sustainability definitions and measuring, and the techniques employed by regional planning organizations in the Salt Lake City, Utah and Sacramento, Calif. areas. The periodical also discussed the federal government's efforts to increase data collection and standardization and the use of indicators to help measure sustainability. The summer 2011 issue of Evidence Matters is available at www.huduser.org.

Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) had the most efficient public housing program in the country last year, according to a report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. AHFC distributed 99 percent of its $30 million in 2010 HUD Housing Choice Voucher funds to low-income families in 13 communities. Oregon and Utah came in second with 97 percent; followed by New York, Massachusetts, Ohio and Washington with 96 percent; and Minnesota, Colorado and New Hampshire with 95 percent. This year, housing agencies in the United States have enough voucher funds to serve 95,772 more families than they did in 2010, according to the Center.

HUD issued Notice PIH-2011-055 in September to provide public housing agencies (PHAs) instructions for operating subsidy calculation submissions in calendar year (CY) 2012 as funded from federal fiscal year (FFY) 2012 appropriations. The notice also addresses the operating subsidy allocation adjustment proposed in the President's FFY 2012 budget, the methodology for the adjustment, the allowable requests for exclusion from the reserve calculation, and the submission and processing of allowable reserve exclusion requests. Although Congress has not yet enacted the adjustment, HUD said the notice provides PHAs with this information and implementation procedures to allow them to plan accordingly. HUD said it plans to notify PHAs of eligibility and subsidy allocation adjustment amounts by December 15.

HUD renewed and amended guidance in October that gives the Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) and the Office of Asset Management (OAM) authority over deferment requests for partial-year submissions of annual financial statements. Under Notice H 2011-27, REAC has the authority to approve or deny property owners' requests to defer partial year submissions of annual financial statements for a period of 120 days or less; for deferral requests that exceed 120 days, OAM will retain approval authority. HUD grants the deferrals to minimize the cost of preparing and submitting annual financial statements as part of a Transfer of Physical Assets, the assignment and assumption of a Housing Assistance Payment Contract, and/or when an owner refinances a mortgage with HUD insurance. The notice does not change the criteria for approving deferment requests. The agency instructs owners to submit deferment requests electronically through the Financial Assessment Subsystem.

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