‘This is not sustainable.’ With skyrocketing rents, Tacoma Housing Authority is forced to adjust

Michael Mirra was blunt. ‘Every choice is going to hurt somebody,’ the Tacoma Housing Authority executive director said. Mirra and THA project manager Aley Thompson recently broke down what they described as the challenging “puzzles” and “arithmetic” the agency is facing in trying to serve the growing number of rent-burdened Tacomans. 

The picture they painted was bleak. 

While the specifics can get wonky, the gist of THA’s predicament is straightforward. Operating in the same insane rental market as the rest of us, the cost to provide rental subsidies to the thousands of families who depend on housing assistance has skyrocketed. With no slowdown in sight for the private rental market and no anticipated increase in funding anticipated, Mirra says the THA board soon will be grappling with difficult decisions on how to proceed, all while the number of families in need grows. 

“This is not sustainable,” Mirra said. ‘That, in a nutshell, is the guts of it.'”

Read the Full Article at The Tacoma News Tribune