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Everyone is required to stay home, except for essential needs. When out, protect yourself and those around you by wearing a face covering, staying 6 feet away from others, and washing your hands often. Learn more at cityofberkeley.info/covid19. City offices are closed to the public. Some services are available remotely.

The City of Berkeley Health Officer has ordered all residents to shelter at home, leaving only to receive or provide essential services, starting 12:01 am on Tuesday, March 17. See details of the Order, frequently asked questions, and recommendations from Berkeley Public Health at https://www.cityofberkeley.info/coronavirus.

The City of Berkeley web site is undergoing scheduled maintenance starting on Friday night, September 13 and ending on Saturday afternoon, September 14. During this time, most web pages should be available, but some resources may become unavailable for short periods of time.

Looking for a live stream of the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) meeting on 5/9/19, at 7:00pm? Please visit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1UAnZ8kU8EWllREyOY7rwQ/. The normal viewing methods will not work this time due to a concurrent City Council Special Meeting at the same time.

Looking for a live stream of the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) meeting on 2/28/19, from 6:00 to 11:00 PM? Please visit http://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Zoning_Adjustment_Board_Meeting_-_Video_Stream.aspx. The normal viewing methods will not work this time due to a concurrent City Council Special Meeting at the same date and time.

PG&E is reporting a widespread outage affecting thousands of customers in Berkeley and many City buildings, including the Finance Customer Service Center and the Permit Service Center. Call respective City services for further details, or check the PG&E outage page. Power is expected to return by 12:45pm. Traffic lights that are not working should be treated as a four-way stop sign.

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Translation Disclaimer

Berkeley Housing Authority

Payment Standards, Income Limits, and Utility Allowance

Tenants are not required to pay more than 40 percent of the income as rent. The maximum rent shown below is set by payment standards. We understand your participation in the Section 8 Program is a business endeavor, and your rents need to keep pace with current market conditions. The rent must be reasonable – comparable to rents for similar unassisted unites. If the rent approved for a unit equals the Payment Standard, the family will not receive an allowance for any tenant paid utilities. If the rent demanded is greater than the Payment Standard for the unit size, you will become subject to registration and payment of registration fees to the Rent Board and the unit will also be covered by many provisions of the Berkeley Rent Control Ordinance. In addition, the rent you will be able to collect will most likely be the most recent Payment Standard plus Rent Control increases and NOT the market rent you are seeking.The Housing Authority would continue to pay the amount below as a maximum, but tenants may choose either to pay the amount of the increase or relocate to a more affordable unit using their voucher.

Payment Standards, Effective January 1, 2020 for ALL contracts:

SRO	0 Bedrooms	1 Bedroom	2 Bedrooms	3 Bedrooms	4 Bedrooms
$1,227	$1,636	$1,988	$2,462	$3,346	$4,092

Payment Standards, Effective July 1, 2019 for all new contracts:

SRO	0 Bedrooms	1 Bedroom	2 Bedrooms	3 Bedrooms	4 Bedrooms
$1,161	$1,549	$1,876	$2,338	$3,217	$3,945

Payment Standards, Effective November 1, 2017 for all existing contracts:

SRO	0 Bedrooms	1 Bedroom	2 Bedrooms	3 Bedrooms	4 Bedrooms
$1,183	$1,578	$1,895	$2,390	$3,318	$3,824

HUD Income Guidelines, Effective April 1, 2020

Families admitted to the Section 8 program must be extremely low income (30% of area median income), or very low income (50% of area median income). If a family was participating in any other 1937 Housing Act program at the time they were issued a voucher, they may qualify with income up through the low income category (up to 80% of area median income).

Household Size	30% of Median Extremely Low	50% of Median Very Low	80% of Median Low
1	$27,450	$45,700	$73,100
2	31,350	52,200	83,550
3	35,250	58,750	94,000
4	39,150	65,250	104,400
5	42,300	70,500	112,800
6	45,450	75,700	121,150
7	48,550	80,950	129,500
8	51,700	86,150	137,850

2020 Utility Allowances

Utility Allowance, Effective July 1, 2020 for Row House/Townhouse & Semi-Detached/Duplex, Triplex, Fourplex