Billerica Housing Authority adopts FY27 plan, flags federal voucher shortfall risk

BILLERICA — July 9, 2026 — Billerica Housing Authority adopts FY27 annual plan and warns of federal voucher funding risk. The board voted unanimously Thursday to approve its fiscal year 2027 annual plan following a public hearing at which one resident asked questions about a new bus stop area at Talbot and a stalled ramp project, with both explained by Executive Director Bob Carrente as resolved or state-declined for cost reasons. Carrente separately briefed the board on a letter from the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities placing the authority in Group 1 — the lowest-risk category — for Housing Choice Voucher Program shortfalls, while reporting a current-month gap of approximately $8,000 and a projected shortfall of roughly $20,000 to $28,000. "The risks to this program can be significant financially," Carrente told commissioners, adding that the authority has stopped issuing new vouchers and suspended accepting portable vouchers from other agencies. The board also approved a general housing payment of $102,081.24, appointed Commissioners Ronnie Knows and a second member to reconstitute the inactive Billerica Affordable Housing Trust, updated bank signatories to remove former Commissioner Martin E. Conway, and heard that the Board of Health has formally closed its case related to an ongoing mouse infestation at Talbot — though the exterminator found conditions attracting mice in roughly one-third of apartments as recently as May.