Housing and Urban Development: HUD's Reinvention Blueprint Raises Budget Issues and Opportunities

GAO discussed the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) fiscal year (FY) 1996 budget request, focusing on the: (1) proposed budget estimates; and (2) budgetary impact of certain assumptions built into the HUD Reinvention Blueprint. GAO noted that: (1) HUD current budget estimates are questionable and subject to considerable error; (2) HUD justification for transforming public housing to tenant-based certificates obscures some wide variations in the costs at individual developments; (3) HUD has prematurely requested funds to implement certain community development initiatives; (4) supplemental grants to troubled housing authorities for rehabilitating their distressed properties have not improved the authorities' management; (5) HUD plans for investing in information resources may not be consistent with its needs for such resources if all of its reinvention initiatives are implemented; (6) HUD FY 1996 request for operating subsidies for public housing authorities may be insufficient; (7) HUD implementation of a project-based demonstration program is inconsistent with the emphasis in its Reinvention Blueprint on shifting future programs to tenant-based assistance; and (8) opportunities exist for streamlining the HUD budget by reassessing programs and limiting funding to those that best support HUD core missions.