Update: County Seeks Injunction Over Possible HUD Funds Withholding

Update, 12:55 p.m. Friday

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino's office today released a copy of the complaint served in federal court aimed at stopping the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from reallocating funds initially meant to aid Westchester in complying with the settlement requiring 750 units of affordable housing by 2016.

"HUD is not allowed to make up its own rules for this money," Astorino said in a statement today of the $7.4 million in question. "Westchester is entitled to fairness and due process just like every other community in the county."

Astorino's office "maintains that it is in full compliance with the settlement," which identified 31 communities in which the 750 units of affordable housing would need to be built by the end of 2016. 

His office said today, "The county is ahead of schedule in meeting its goals with 305 units having financing in place and 110 units already occupied."

The 35-page complaint filed this week by Westchester County Attorney Robert F. Meehan asks for a jury trial in the matter.

A copy of the county's legal complaint has been attached to this article as a .pdf.

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Update, 6 p.m.:

The county will proceed with an injunction after talks with HUD failed, according to Philip Oliva, a spokesperson for Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino.

"The county—on a bi-partisan basis—will be in federal court tomorrow seeking injunctive relief to prevent HUD from re-allocating $7.4 million in federal funds that were promised to the county and to local municipalities," he stated in an update.

Previously, the legal paperwork had been filed but not served.

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Original story:

Westchester County Attorney Robert Meehan and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are in talks for the county to avoid losing about $7.4 million in federal funds in connection to disputes over the housing settlement, County Executive Rob Astorino's office confirmed.

The county has filed the paperwork to seek an injunction but has not served it yet, according to Philip Oliva, a spokesman for Astorino. 

If a deal is reached with HUD then the county will not move forward with the litigation.

"If there is one, we won’t serve," Oliva wrote to Patch on Thursday afternoon. "If there isn’t—we will serve tomorrow morning."

HUD gave Westchester a Thursday deadline for two settlement items—they are cooperation for working on source-of-income legislation and to submit a zoning analysis that it deems satisfactory—or else it will withhold the funds and redistribute them. The funds include community development block grants (CDBG) which municipalities use for infrastructure improvements. County officials of both political parties are seeking to stop the withholding in order to prevent municipalities from losing funds. On Monday, the county Board of Legislators voted 12-4 to authorize the county attorney to request an injunction to prevent withholding.

Since HUD issued its deadline, there has been some movement. On Wednesday, Astorino submitted source-of-income legislation to the BOL and stated that he will sign it. The bill, which prevents denial of public assistance as rental payments, is similar to a 2010 version that he vetoed, and he had been opposed to such action because he feels that it could make the voluntary Section 8 program mandatory. Astorino's action also came after a threat from the U.S. attorney's office to seek contempt against the county and possibly himself if he did not act.

The county lost in a federal district court and in a federal appeals court in a dispute over source-of-income legislation, with judges ruling that not promoting it is a breach of the 2009 housing settlement. 

The county had previously done a zoning analysis but HUD rejected it. Meanwhile, a monitor for the settlement has been working on his own study.

The housing settlement requires Westchester to support building 750 affordable housing units in mostly white communities by 2016.