Some families living in public housing made more than $100,000 and the government does not plan to ask them to move out.
One family made $137,000 and paid $786 a month in rent for the family of four to live in a two bedroom place in public housing. Another family of two made $130,000 and paid $554 a month.
The families make significantly more money than would be allowed to qualify for public housing at the time of move in. Both of these families moved out of public housing this fall.
A policy analyst for the Houston Housing Authority says it's an efficient use of taxpayer dollars to allow a family making that much money to live in public housing because they pay additional rent and thus the government has to kick in less money than it would for a family making little money.
"This is actually the most efficient use of taxpayer money because it actually saves the tax payer money. When the higher income families pay higher rent it decreases the burden on federal subsidies we get," Brian Gage, Senior Policy Advisor for the Houston Housing Authority.
The wait list is about 23,000 people long in Houston.
"There is simply not enough affordable housing in Houston," Gage said.
The Housing and Urban Development's office of Inspector General did an audit this year and found Texas has the third most people living in public housing who make more than the allowed amount on move in.
The numbers by state are as follows:
Overincome Families Residing in Public Housing Units Nationwide
1 New York 10,903
2 Puerto Rico 1,219
3 Texas 1,056
4 Alabama 811
5 New Jersey 755
6 Pennsylvania 750
7 Louisiana 682
8 Georgia 666
9 Illinois 637
10 Massachusetts 621
11 Kentucky 571
12 Tennessee 545
13 California 505
14 North Carolina 405
15 Ohio 384
16 Missouri 366
17 Mississippi 341
18 Arkansas 332
19 Florida 297
20 Oklahoma 288
21 Michigan 243
22 South Carolina 243
23 Minnesota 229
24 Wisconsin 213
25 Indiana 172
26 Virgin Islands 160
27 Nebraska 157
28 Maryland 156
29 Kansas 152
30 Virginia 147
31 Connecticut 144
32 West Virginia 140
33 New Mexico 98
34 Rhode Island 87
35 Iowa 85
36 Washington 81
37 North Dakota 70
38 Washington, DC 69
39 Arizona 60
40 Maine 60
41 Colorado 54
42 Oregon 50
43 Montana 33
44 Alaska 27
45 New Hampshire 25
46 Vermont 25
47 Nevada 24
48 Delaware 20
49 Hawaii 20
50 South Dakota 17
51 Wyoming 13
52 Idaho 11
53 Utah 7
Total 25,226
Ch. 2 Investigation: $100,000 incomes & living in public housing
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