So you've followed the instructions on Setting up your AMI records, and even found and read through AMI and MIF - Everything you wanted to know and more, double checked your Income Sources and Household members, and still, my AMI% are off! Yours may look something like this:
When you refer back to HUD Documentation, 80% (in this case, for Passiac County in New Jersey), should be $90,000 based on their Income Limit Tables. Why is HomeKeeper calculating it at 70.84%?
You're welcome to "Click for More Detail" to understand HUD's logic, but the short answer is - HUD does not always calculate "Income Limits" based on the published Median Family Income.
In fact, they calculate 50%, 30%, and 80% differently!
If you took the median income for a family of 4 - $127,700 and:
Multiplied by 0.50, for 50% - you'd get $63,850, which is not what is published here: $61,200 for the 50% limit
Multiplied by 0.30, for 30% - you'd get $38,310, which is not what is published here: $36,700 for the 30% limit
Multiplied by 0.80, for 80% - you'd get $102,160, which is not what is published here: $90,000 for the 80% limit
HUD adjusts how it sets Income Limits based on Floor and Ceiling calculations that adjust from the Median Family Income based on previous years, and is different for each county.
Based on us working through support tickets with some organizations as well solutions offered by some of our key alliance partners, Lincoln Parkway Consulting and Public House, we can suggest a way to manage these discrepancies within HomeKeeper so your calculated AMI% fit your program, until we develop a more permanent solution.
Determine the "Median Income Limit Amount" for each %
Look up your County's FY22 Income Limit Dataset on HUDUser.gov
Using the Limits for Families of 4, calculate the Median Income Amount used based on the following formula:
{$Income Limit Amount for Families of 4} / {% of AMI this represents}, Rounded to the nearest $50
50% Income Limits: $61,200 / 0.5 = $122,400
30% Income Limits: $36,700 / 0.3 = $122,333, rounded down to $122,300
80% Income Limits: $90,000 / 0.8 = $112,500
Create additional AMI records for each Income Limit
In addition to the standard AMI:
Also create a record for 80% and name the record and County as such. Note the difference in Median Income amount
While also doing the same for 30% and 50% if you need them.
Assign the appropriate AMI record based on the limit for that program
You should now see it calculating the Percent of AMI (Gross) and Percent of AMI (Eligibility) based on the Income Limits, and $90,000 for a family of four is 80% for your reporting purposes.
Final thoughts
While this solution may solve the Percent of AMI % calculating according to Income Limits, it does have some risks and complications. In some municipalities, as we have observed, there is no distinction in the amount used for AMI versus Income Limits. As well, while this is calculating at 80% per limits, their actual Area Median Income % is 70.48%, based on the actual Median Income of $127,700.
We will be taking this information into consideration when developing a HomeKeeper-wide solution. In the meantime, we hope this helps!
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