The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is committed to providing greater transparency around Public Housing Authority (PHA) Executive Compensation, including salaries, and monitoring compliance with the statutory cap on the use of Federal funds for such salaries.  

In addition to providing increased public transparency and monitoring compliance with the law, HUD is committed to sharing this information with PHA boards to ensure greater accountability.

The 2013 Appropriations Act for HUD capped the amount of Federal Public Housing and Housing Choice Voucher funds that could be used for PHA salaries at $155,500 per employee.  The HUD Appropriations Bill for 2014 repeats this same provision. Any amount of salary above that level must be paid for with other funds.

Public housing agencies receive Federal funding to administer Federal housing assistance programs, but they are state or locally-run entities.  This means that while Congress has capped the amount of Federal Public Housing and Housing Choice Voucher dollars that may be used for executive salaries, other Federal, state or local funds may be used to exceed that cap.

HUD does not have the authority to set compensation beyond the Federal statutory limit on salaries; however, we believe that transparency is the best way to ensure accountability and reasonableness in salaries.