Embedded Files
How will this impact the Parks budget?
How will this impact the Parks budget?
It won't.
It won't.
The December 6, 2022, budget adjustment resolution to transfer the $5,095,114 from the ARPA fund into the General Fund did not specify them for any particular use. The staff memo stated "the funds will be committed for capital expenditures identified in the future and authorized by the City Council." The resolution was passed on Consent (A.16) without any Council questions or discussion at the agenda session.
During the November 29, 2022 Agenda Session presentation, Paul said: "As we discuss capital in 2023, we’ll decide exactly finally where it gets moved."
The City Council is responsible for approving and amending the annual budget for all City departments. No requests for appropriation of the ARPA funds for the Parks department has come before the Council, so there will be no reduction to their budget. Any expectation of the Parks department to access these funds absent an appropriation or less formal earmark was premature.
How it was determined to earmark money for parks?
How it was determined to earmark money for parks?
It wasn't...
At least not publicly.
It wasn't...
At least not publicly.
More extensive conversation occurred months earlier at the April 12, 2022, Agenda Session and April 19, 2022, Council Meeting when Council approved the ARPA "Standard Deduction" election for State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. At that time, Paul Becker verbally identified Walker Park improvements among a list of possible "infrastructure" uses, but both Paul and the Mayor repeatedly stated that future conversations would be necessary for the Council to determine how the funds would be spent. The staff memo at that time mentioned "Infrastructure programs for parks, public buildings or some work force development training programs would be examples." However, it also made explicit that the "This request does not appropriate funds".
Despite the stated intent to revisit the topic, I can find no record of any public conversations between December 2022 and May 2024 where the City Council discussed potential uses of the standard allowance funds that were placed in the General Fund. If anyone can identify such a conversation, this history will be updated accordingly.
Editor's Update: There was a workshop held May 9, 2023, the video of which was stored in a different category of the City's online archives. A request to make that video downloadable has been submitted to Media Services and this record will be updated once it's available.
I thought our intent was to use this ARPA money for infrastructure.
I thought our intent was to use this ARPA money for infrastructure.
Housing is infrastructure.
Housing is infrastructure.
Housing is infrastructure. This is not just a novel interpretation, but official policy according to:
"Housing is infrastructure, and HUD is committed to work across the federal government and with our state and local partners to equitably implement BIL. We encourage states and localities preparing to implement infrastructure investments to consider how to coordinate those investments with affordable housing planning"
"Housing conditions must now account for current market needs and incorporate sustainable, climate-resilient elements to be successful in the long term. Cities, towns and villages can mitigate these trends and generate resilient housing infrastructure by leveraging the unprecedented funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL)."
"[A]ddressing the national underbuilding gap will require a coordinated approach to planning, funding and development of all forms of infrastructure to not only build more housing, but also build better housing that will be more inclusive and well-integrated into local communities. In particular, mechanisms to achieve these goals include strengthening and expanding the existing Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) framework, a comprehensive recognition of the need for genuine community engagement in all types of infrastructure development and systematic adoption of planning tools such as fair housing and equity impact analyses."
"... Private activity bonds have an array of qualified uses that permit for the financing of economic infrastructure, like airports, rail yards, roads, and bridges, and social infrastructure, like affordable rental housing, schools, and nonprofit hospitals. They are one of the primary tools used by state and local governments to finance infrastructure projects...
Action: Congress should enact legislation that promotes expanded use of Private Activity Bonds."
The US Department of the Treasury, in partnership with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, published a guide titled Affordable Housing How-To Guide: How to use State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds for Affordable Housing Production and Preservation specifically identifying a range of housing-related activities presumed eligible for SLFRF (including flexibility to serve populations above typical 80% AMI thresholds if reasonably proportional to addressing the negative economics following the COVID-19 pandemic).
What anticipated recommendations might come out of the Task Force that would need funding to implement?
What anticipated recommendations might come out of the Task Force that would need funding to implement?
Patterns elsewhere suggest...
Patterns elsewhere suggest...
As several council members and staff have pointed out, there isn't a task force yet. So we don't know what they will ultimately come up with. But for planning and readiness purposes, we can look to the reports from task forces in other cities for a decent idea.
Below is a collection of 24 different Housing Task Force reports from cities, counties, states, and even Australia. Most are recent; some specifically contemplate ARPA funds; and several predate the COVID-19 pandemic. They overwhelmingly point towards consensus around several recurring action items, with additional elements relating specifically to each local context.
The most often repeated themes below include:
The most often repeated themes below include:
Review & rewrite zoning codes, development codes, impact fee requirements, and review processes
Provide support for developers navigating bureaucracy
Use of public lands for housing (including land acquisition, strategic land sales, and construction activities)Â
Investments in rehabilitation projects to preserve existing housing stock
Supporting innovative financing programs, both governmental and in partnership with banks
Various means-tested forms of rental, down-payment, or mortgage assistance
Formation of Community Land Trusts
Encouraging innovative construction techniques
Editor's Comment:
The most common item that would be appropriate for immediate action would be securing a consultant to modernize our zoning and development codes to remove barriers to incremental housing development, increase density strategically around transit service, and focus on preservation of existing homes to prevent resident displacement.
Another rapid-ready opportunity could be around land acquisition.
Most other common recommendations would likely result in on-going programming efforts that would require longer-term funding solutions. Pilot projects may be viable options or the money, but may have more limited impact than something like a code reform capital project that would create a lasting benefit the entire city and potentially free up staff resources for other efforts in the future.
The most common item that would be appropriate for immediate action would be securing a consultant to modernize our zoning and development codes to remove barriers to incremental housing development, increase density strategically around transit service, and focus on preservation of existing homes to prevent resident displacement.
Another rapid-ready opportunity could be around land acquisition.
Most other common recommendations would likely result in on-going programming efforts that would require longer-term funding solutions. Pilot projects may be viable options or the money, but may have more limited impact than something like a code reform capital project that would create a lasting benefit the entire city and potentially free up staff resources for other efforts in the future.
James City County,
Virginia
(Williamsburg)Population: 81,199James City County,
Virginia
Workforce Housing Task Force Assessment Recommendations
(January 2019 37 pg)Top Items:
- Review County land use designations and development standards to ensure that workforce housing, mixed-income housing and mixed-use development are supported by land use and zoning policies
- Review the use lists for existing zoning districts and modify as appropriate to ensure that diverse housing types are specifically included in use lists
- Decrease minimum lot size requirements and/or explore adding a maximum lot size regulation in select zones to facilitate smaller home types
- Identify which public land sites would be suitable for workforce housing.Â
- Explore establishing an internal process for fast-tracked reviews that could include staff specifically assigned to the program
- Create an inventory of potential adaptive reuse sites and connect owners of properties that are good candidates with qualified local developers
- Develop a pattern book, training sessions and other technical assistance documentation to help home owners construct accessory units
- Develop a loan program to help lower-income households build accessory apartments
- Encourage HOAs to revise covenants that prohibit accessory units
- Define process for identifying deteriorating homes that can be rehabilitated with local funding, with goal of rehabbing 25 per year.
- Offer property tax abatement/exemption for owners of deteriorating single-family homes that make improvements and either continue to live in the home or enter into an agreement with the County to rent that home to a low- or moderate-income working individual or family
- Look for opportunities to head off loss of mobile homes and/or promote responsible redevelopment of the mobile home parks with the goal of protecting current residents
- Explore options for creating a housing land trust or land bank.
Decatur,
Georgia
Population: 24,338Decatur,
Georgia
Top Strategies:
- Hire a dedicated staff member to execute affordable housing strategies
- Amend the zoning code to:
- Â create a criteria for Conditional Use Permits allowing Planning Commission to consider "whether the proposed use results in a loss of existing affordable or workforce housing units"
- allow accessory dwelling units on properties with detached single-family homes
- allow duplex, triplex, and quadplex construction in current single-family zoning
- legalize co-living, cottage courts, rooming houses, and other diverse housing arrangements
- Adopt an Inclusionary Zoning policy requiring developers building above a certain unit count to set aside a percentage of units for LMI renters and/or buyers (include a fees-in-lieu option)
- Development incentives such as density bonuses, reduced permitting fees, or lower parking requirements
- Encourage affordable housing production on underutilized parking lots and land owned by the City or its nonprofit and faith-based partners
- Use voluntary tax abatements or TIF funding for apartment complexes that agree to limit rents
- Adjust income caps on existing property tax deferral program, allowing LMI residents to defer the payment of a portion of property taxes (with interest) until the sale or transfer of the property
- Establish a rental assistance program structured to help with upfront rental costs including first and last month’s rent and security deposit
- Develop a soft-loan program for ADU financing, securing rent restrictions to 80% AMI, through public funds or in partnership with local banks
- Issue a Housing Opportunity Bond at a minimum amount of $5M to fund the existing Decatur Land Trust operations, acquisition and development activities
Savannah,
Georgia
Population: 148,004Savannah,
Georgia
Top Strategies:
- Zoning ordinance amendments promote housing affordability:
- Allow increased density and dwelling units per lot/parcel
- Allow smaller, narrower, lot widths and lot areas
- Allow smaller building setbacks
- Allow larger lot coverage for buildings
- Incentives that help reduce housing repair, renovation, construction or development costs
- Waive fees
- Expedite permitting review
- Remove upper floor dwellings from lot coverage calculations
- Reduce off-street parking requirements when alternatives exist or none is necessary
- Allow accessory and similar dwelling units without increasing the required lot size
- Increase number of unrelated persons who can occupy a dwelling
- Permit licensed and inspected rooming houses with on-site caretaker
- Sell or lease of City, County and School Board property for housing development
- Issued or back bonds repaid by the City for special Housing Savannah activities
- Acquiring unsubsidized or expiring affordable housing in order to help preserve affordability and prevent gentrification
- Funding small scale projects including home repairs, home construction and home purchases
- Establishing a non-profit owned and operated modular housing plant in Savannah
- Research inclusionary zoning ordinance
- Rent control legislation
- Prohibit "source of income" discrimination
- Support innovative site and housing designs, types and materials, including smaller dwellings
- Expand eligible uses of development impact fee revenue to include the improvement, construction and development of publicly or privately owned affordable housing—as affordable housing is vital part of a community’s infrastructure
Cache County,
Utah
(Logan)Population: 140,173Cache County,
Utah
Top Items:
- Publicize factors that contribute toward increased housing costs, and rank by impact
- Adopt code revisions that allow denser development
- Code reform to reduce/eliminate restrictions that inhibit the development of a variety of housing types
- Designate open spaces for permanent preservation
- Survey students for housing preferences and needs.
Swarthmore,
Pennsylvania
Population: 6,494Swarthmore,
Pennsylvania
Top Actions:
- Legalize accessory dwelling units
- Overhaul and modernize our zoning code, prioritizing measures to improve affordability
- revise area and bulk regulations, or replace them with form-based regulations
- incorporate inclusinoary zoning measures, such as density bonuses in exchange for community affordability benefits
- enact an ordinance requiring developers to pay relocation assistance to tenants who are displaced by rehabilitation, demolition, or discontinuation of rental housing
- build a mixed-income residential building over the municipal parking lot, maintaining commuter parking on the ground level
Cumberland,
Maine
Population: 8,473Cumberland,
Maine
Housing Task Force
Advisory Committee Report
Top Items:
- Reorganize Cumberland Housing Authority
- Establish Affordable Housing Overlay zones with geography-based incentives such as density bonuses, TIF funding, additional flexibility from design regulations
- Require developments of 10+ new housing units outside the Affordable Overlay Zone include a minimum of 20% of Affordable units for a period of not less than 45 years to be enforced through deed restrictions
- Establish TIF districts to support the development of eligible infrastructure.
- Use TIF Districts to create a Housing Development Revolving Loan Fund and an Investment Fund to purchase property.
Easton,
Pennsylvania
(Williamsburg)Population: 30,341Easton,
Pennsylvania
Top Items:
- Form a housing development corporation that will work alongside a hybrid community bank affiliate within the community and with community partners
- By up targeted, blighted properties and vacant land in the pursuit of offering thoughtful solutions to affordable housing
- Work closely with landlords aiming to transition rental units to rent-to-own opportunities using deconversion grants
- Develop a policy of in-lieu contributions towards affordable housing
- An initial outlay of $200,000 from the Affordable Housing Program line item of Easton’s ARPA budget, and matching contributions from partner banks and employers, the process of forming the 501c2 can begin immediately
- With a contribution of $1,000,000 from the Blight Elimination/Owner-Occupied Façade Grants line item of Easton’s ARPA budget, the RDA will generate a Land Bank by acquiring blighted and vacant properties throughout the city
- With a contribution of $1,000,000 from the Affordable Housing Program line item of Easton’s ARPA budget, the HDC will establish a renovation fund to rehabilitate properties from the land bank and begin generating its own capital to be reinvested back into the creation of more affordable housing options
Editor's Note: This plan seems hyper-specific to this community and targeted squarely on establishing a bank-like entity that may be questionably legal under Banking regulations, and even more questionably sustainable based on the limited initial funding mentioned.
It is included here becuase it exists, and you should see the bad as well as the good. It partially fits the pattern, with it's emphasis on land acquisition and novel financing strategies. Additionally, their task force was focused on using ARPA money to jump-start long-term programs.
Englewood,
Colorado
Population: 33,642Englewood,
Colorado
Pre-Task Force Housing Needs AssessmentÂ
(December 2022 143 pg)Top Items:
- Update zoning code to reduce barriers for more diverse housing types
- Consider adjustments to parking standardsÂ
- Increase “unrelated” occupancy standards or revise family definition to allow more flexible living arrangements
- Evaluate reductions in lot size requirements to encourage more affordable housing forms
- Permit or process-oriented incentives (e.g., fast track development approval; city-assigned, dedicated planning advocate to help move the development through the approval process; reduction in public meeting requirements
- Allocate publicly owned land (and/or strategically acquire vacant or underutilized properties) for affordable and mixed-income housing
- Support acquisition/ rehabilitation that creates or preserves affordable housing
- Fee waivers/rebatesÂ
- Consider an inclusionary zoning ordinance with incentives and offsets
- Advocate for regional collaboration and partnership development
Editor's Note:Englewood contracted with Root Policy Research to conduct their Housing Needs Assessment and policy recommendations, delivered in November, 2022. The City Council subsequently called for the formation of the Affordable Housing Task Force to guide their implementation process. The Task Force first convened in January, 2024.
Lima,
Ohio
Population: 34,977Lima,
Ohio
Top Items:
- Review of the regulatory framework, process, and systems associated with residential development
- Make good use of land bank. The land bank is an important partner and should help in figuring out strategies to bring properties back to productive use.
- Establish a rentalvrehabilitation matching fund, to be used on a competitive basis to assist rental property owners in conducting needed rehabilitation of properties
- Set specific goals for subsidized housing; Set specific goals for privately funded housing investment; Work with potential partners to implement goals.
- Offer a tax abatement program for new construction and major rehabilitation of residential property (both single family and multi-family)
- Develop and offer Tax Increment Financing to mitigate the increased cost of land development by capturing property tax increases, and uses the increment to repay pre-development costs
- Make city-owned lots low costs or free to developers
- Develop and make available to potential investors good lists of available lots under the control of the City and Land Bank
- Address the lack of small to medium sized developers and contractors, and the shortage of skilled workers in the construction trades
- Work with banks, CDFI’s and other lender partners to create loan products that offer favorable terms for buyers coming through housing counseling programs and subsidized housing programs
- Create a land trust where homes are rehabilitated and sold, but any subsequent resale of those properties requires that they are sold to an income eligible household
Editor's Note:This pre-pandemic plan seems heavily weighted towards addressing blight in a distressed community with deteriorating properties.
Clackamas County,
Oregon
(South of Portland)Population: 423,177Clackamas County,
Oregon
Housing Affordability &
Homelessness Task Force
Final Needs Analysis Report
Housing Services Recommendations
(March 2019 3 pg)Planning, Zoning, & Development Recommendations
(March 2019 3 pg)Top Strategies:
- Make duplexes and triplexes outright uses in single-family zones, subject to clear and objective criteria
- Address ability to add housing to schools, places of worship and church-owned properties
- Provide an tiered density bonus for inclusion of affordable housing and create a transferrable development rights bonus system
- Increase maximum density for multi-family development in commercial zoning districts
- Identify and allocate additional funding for eviction prevention financial assistance
- Provide relocation assistance for those households who are experiencing no-cause evictions or need to identify more affordable housing options
- Repeal owner occupancy requirement for ADUs
- Negotiate rights of first refusal for housing authority or tenant organizations
- Develop a hierarchy of parking standards based on proximity to transit that considers credits for alternative modes, the nature of the occupancy and affordability
- Identify and allocate highly flexible funding to allow for more creative and effective programming
Snohomish County,
Washington
Population: 840,079Snohomish County,
Washington
Top Strategies:
- Increase housing variety allowed at a range of affordability levels in single-family zones, in areas with connections to jobs, and along transit corridors, including consideration of zoning for duplex, triplex, 4-plex, courtyard apartments
- Provide surplus and under-utilized publicly owned property for low-income housing
- Ensure adequate Buildable Land Supply for housing
- Establish short term acquisition revolving loan fund to enable rapid response to preserve low-income housing developments when they are put on the market
- Develop density bonuses for development on church-owned properties
- Reduce construction costs and delays and expedite the permit process
- Reduce parking requirements for multi-family projects located near transit
- Implement inclusionary zoning incentives to encourage developers to produce low-income housing
- Encourage banking and insurance industry support for condominium projects as homeownership solution
- Support creation of Community Land Trusts
Pima County,
Arizona
Population: 1.058 millionPima County,
Arizona
Top Items:
- Amend zoning code text in Pima County development code to reduce lot size, while increasing density and height requirements
- Create inventory of county properties suitable for sale to nonprofit developersÂ
- Issue and fund an RFP for developing affordable housing of developable vacant properties
- Inventory potential of redevelopment of underutilized hotels, commercial props, schools, and existing parking lots
- Fast track projects that incorporate flexible design guidelines and promote height and density development goals:
- Infill incentive districts for affordable housing
- Streamlined, complementary regulatory processes for building ADUs (City of Tucson) and Casitas (Pima County), including permitting modular units
- Reduced bottlenecks in the prefabricated/pattern zone housingÂ
- Develop funding sources and offer for developers appropriate financial subsidies/incentives for fast-track projects that promote housing affordability:
- revolving loan fund
- Reduced impact fees for properties already near existing infrastructure
- Reduced engineering/fee studies
- County general fund or dedicated sources of funding, including bonding or property tax
- Fund an inventory and evaluation of the effectiveness of local land trust innovations
Fairfax County,
Virginia
Population: 1.138 millionFairfax County,
Virginia
Top Items:
- Consider reviewing and amending, as appropriate, Zoning Ordinance regulations related to height, bulk, setbacks, and parking standards to facilitate preservation
- Add a dedicated staff member to the Department of Housing and Community Development to focus exclusively on affordable housing preservation
- Providing “gap” financing or a subsidy to convert market affordable units into committed affordable housing
- Provide qualified existing residents priority to retain or return to an appropriately sized unit when a community undergoes renovation or redevelopment with preservation
- Fee waiver policy for committed affordable housing production, redevelopment and renovation projects that provide, at minimum, for a full replacement of existing affordable units
- Augment existing half-penny real estate tax for preservation with an additional half-penny for preservation and a full penny for new production
- Provide an “early warning system” for preservation opportunities that may emerge on the market:
- Map areas of displacement risk
- Identify owners of multifamily buildings that are suffering from the economic effects of COVID-19 to see which are more at risk by exploring tax records for indications and evictions
- Financing and acquisition/rehabilitation of existing units/communities that are currently market affordable or committed affordable
- Replacement of existing units on-site or  in proximity to the site with new construction
- When redevelopment is proposed, affirm the principle of no net loss of units and affordability to the extent feasible
San Antonio,
Texas
Population: 1.473 millionSan Antonio,
Texas
Top Items:
- Immediately create an executive position in the City Manager’s office to lead housing and neighborhood-related activities and integrate with all city functions
- Revise the UDC to remove regulatory barriers to affordable housing
- Exempt affordable housing units from impact fees
- Establish a One-Stop Housing Center, including an online portal with information about community programs, housing catalogs, and other resources
- Substantially increase general fund expenditures for affordable housing. his may require a reprioritization of funds or it could utilize revenues that exceed annual budget projections from specific sources.
- Amend city charter to recognize affordable housing as a legitimate "public purpose" for bond funding.
- Expand TIF districts to transit corridors and regional centers, dedicating a larger percent of capture increment for affordable housing purposes.
- Increase funding for down payment assistance and homebuyer counseling
- Create a revolving loan fund for rehabilitation purposes with well-established guidelines for low-interest or deferred-interest loans that could be partially forgivable and provide clear title assistance and contractor vetting
- determine standards and criteria to allow by-right zoning for housing developments in which at least 50 percent of the units are affordable
- Require public agencies to conduct a displacement impact assessment for large public projects and budget for mitigation
- Implement a citywide public education and outreach campaign about the importance of housing
Suffolk County,
New York
(Long Island)Population: 1.525 millionSuffolk County,
New York
Top Items:
- Changes to zoning law would enable a more even distribution of a wider variety of housing stock. Not only affordable housing: This can also include handicap accessible, multi-generational, multi-family, and mixed used smart housing
- A “Tenant Bill of Rights” should be created and distributed to assist renters facing eviction
- Require that all vendors associated with real estate work to affirmatively further fair housing as a listed requirement in any Request For Proposals
- Make arrest without a conviction a protected class and “Ban the Box” on rental applications
- Fund Human Rights Commission for the express purpose of fair housing testing
Editor's Note: This task force seems to have been directed to focus primarily on fair housing issues and anti-discrimination measures. Still, they reached several of the same recommendations as others.
King County,
Washington
(Seattle)Population: 2.267 millionKing County,
Washington
Top Items:
- Evaluate and update zoning in transit areas in advance of transit investmentsÂ
- Evaluate the impact of development fees in transit areas
- Fund land acquisition and adopt increased zoning to maximize affordable housing on acquired parcels
- Develop policies for the sale of County-owned property at reduced or no cost when used for affordable housing
- Fund capital construction and preservation
- Inventory privately owned affordable multifamily properties at risk of redevelopment or rapid rent escalation
- Explore unused authority to raise revenue to support the goal of building or preserving housing
- Provide technical assistance in designing inclusionary / incentive housing programs
Victoria Chamber of Commerce
Victoria (State), AustraliaPopulation: 6.681 millionVictoria Chamber of Commerce
(October 2023 68 pg)
Top Items:
- Relax zoning and rezoning laws in appropriate locations for social and affordable housing developments to fast-track their construction and provide housing certainty to low-income workers
- Release government land for social and affordable housing,
- Repurpose vacant and underutilised buildings to provide quality long-term housing for people at risk of homelessness
- Incentivise the wide uptake of innovative construction technologies and methods
- Enforce stringent timelines for planning approvals within statutory requirements to ensure faster planning processes
- Establish a supporting infrastructure fund for developers to tap into to incentivise housing construction
- Establish a permit process assistance service to help applicants for housing approvals maximise the success rate of applications
New South Wales
NSW (State), AustraliaPopulation: 8.166 millionNew South Wales
Top Items:
- Reviewing incentives and planning controls for affordable and social housing to ensure that these settings are effective in encouraging social and affordable housing supply
- Facilitating the strategic use of government-owned land to provide improved housing outcomes by identifying priority sites for housing, and removing of policies preventing utilisation of existing government land for housing
- Reduce barriers to Public Private Partnerships that deliver social, affordable and key worker housing
- investigate planning pathways for innovative housing options for a variety of needs, such as temporary supportive accommodation for those in crisis and housing for seasonal workers
Montana Governor's Housing Task Force
Population: 1.123 millionMontana Governor's Housing Task Force
Top Items for Cities:
- Prioritize dense infill development over greenfield development
- Inventory underutilized state-owned land in urban areas that may be appropriate for housing
- Maximize review efficiency by streamlining the permitting process to approve new development in less than three months from application submittal
- Spread the cost of off-site improvements amongst users and/or multiple developments rather than on a single development, whenever possible
- Create CLTs (Community Land Trusts) that are non-profit organizations governed by a board that provide lasting community assets and shared equity opportunities
- Make regulatory updates to the building codes for the purpose of increasing housing affordability
- Invest in workforce development
- Evaluate and adopt innovative construction methods
Minnesota Governor's
Task Force on Housing
Population: 5.717 millionMinnesota Governor's
Task Force on Housing
More Places to Call Home Report
(August 2018 72 pg)Top Items:
- Expand and streamline existing rental rehabilitation programs to preserve critical rental assets
- Expand the range of housing types across Minnesota communities
- Evaluate regulations related to building standards, land use, and environmental stewardship for their impact on housing affordability
- Define and crack down on predatory rental practices
- Strengthen protections for renters in the private market
- Expand and enhance programs that help people navigate the systems to find homes
- Incentivize the acceptance of rental assistance vouchers by the private market
- Promote alternative models of building wealth through homeownership, such as community land trusts, cooperatively owned housing and manufactured home parks
Colorado General Assembly Affordable Housing Task Force
Population: 5.84 millionColorado General Assembly Affordable Housing Task Force
Top Items for Cities:
- Update and expand a statewide housing needs assessment
- Address short-term rentals
- Prioritize the use of land banking and land trust strategies for long-term affordable housing planning and development
- Develop or fund flexible low interest, below market revolving loan funds to support increases in new developments, preservation and rehabilitation of existing housing, property conversions, and non-traditional housing capacity
- Provide direct, flexible, and timely grant funding to nonprofits and local governments that have or are pursuing measures to facilitate affordable housing development, including the purchase of land
- Provide direct funding in combination with local government ARPA funds to attract, encourage, and support the implementation and construction of prefabricated housing (i.e., modular, 3-D printed, manufactured, kits, etc.)
St Louis County,
Missouri
(St Louis)Population: 990,414St Louis County,
Missouri
Affordable Housing Trust Fund Task Force Recommendations
(April 2019 24 pg)Special purpose task force provided a recommendation for funding, operating, and governing an Affordable Housing Trust Fund with goals to:
Additionally, they proposed several complementary policies:
- Increase Housing Stability
- Provide Prevention Services
- Preserve Affordable Housing Options
- Increase Affordable Housing Options
- Promote Mobility to Areas of Opportunity
Additionally, they proposed several complementary policies:
- Housing investment in conjunction with comprehensive community development
- Adopt a "source of income" law to protect residents who use Housing-Choice Vouchers to pay their rent
- Implement incentive-linked inclusionary zoning practices when public funds are used to finance a development
National Association of Counties
National Association of Counties
Top Items:
- Evaluate current zoning plans
- Cost-benefit analysis of impact & development fees
- Understand the inventory of additional land
- Analyze local regulations' impact on affordability
- Provide pre-approved housing plans
- Establish an office streamline housing projects
- Conduct a robust outreach and education initiative
- Partner with local organizations to provide financing mechanisms for new housing development
Boston Metro Mayor's Coalition Regional Housing Task Force
15 Cities Population: 8,466,186Boston Metro Mayor's Coalition Regional Housing Task Force
Editor's Note: The MMC formed in 2018 to identify strategies the 15 member cities could pursue to achieve the regional housing goals of the greater Boston metropolitan area. Rather than a point-in-time report and recommendations, they have developed an evolving website with a list of policy and financing tools that are too comprehensive to sumarize here.
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