Vermont Housing Authorities Halt Hundreds of Section 8 Vouchers Amid Budget Strain

More than 1,000 Vermonters won’t get rental subsidies this year as housing authorities roll back the primary assistance program for impoverished households. Facing flat federal funding and an unforgiving rental marketplace, housing authorities big and small have stopped issuing rental-assistance vouchers known as Section 8. In more than 100 cases, they’ve withdrawn vouchers issued to individuals and families who were still searching for an apartment to rent. The first wave of cuts came in January, when the Burlington Housing Authority announced it would need to drop subsidies to nearly 400 households this year to close a $2.3 million budget gap. Last month, the largest issuer of Section 8 vouchers, the Vermont State Housing Authority, said it would need to shelve nearly 500 subsidies. Combined, those two agencies issue three-quarters of all Section 8 vouchers in Vermont.