A section 514 or 516 project serving migrant farmworkers may take operating assistance instead of tenant-specific Rental Assistance, capped at 90 percent of the migrant units' operating costs

rd514_516.subsidy_calculation.operating_assistance_may_replace_tenant_specific_rental_assistance_in_migrant_units · v1.0.0

Operating assistance is the farm labor programme's alternative to unit-by-unit Rental Assistance, and it exists only here. An off-farm labor housing project financed under section 514 or section 516(i) that serves MIGRANT farmworkers may take tenant-specific Rental Assistance, or operating assistance, or a combination - but no tenant or unit assisted with operating assistance may also receive Rental Assistance. Units for year-round farmworker households are ineligible. The amount must be based on the project's actual income and expenses and approved by the Agency, and in a mixed project on the share attributable to the migrant units; in no instance may the annual amount exceed 90 PERCENT of the annual operating costs attributable to the migrant units. The owner's budget must propose rental rates sufficient to cover those operating costs and must estimate rental income on a tenant contribution of 30 percent of the AVERAGE adjusted monthly income of migrant farmworker households IN THE AREA - an area average, not each household's own income, which is what makes this a project subsidy rather than a tenant subsidy. The owner verifies tenant income eligibility, only very low- or low-income households may pay the operating assistance rents, households above the low-income limit pay full rent, and the owner submits tenant certifications, a monthly project worksheet and an annual planning budget before the project's fiscal year.

Confidence

high

Effective from

2022-03-01

Last reviewed

2026-09-02