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Housing Advocate Decries State Cuts
by Carol Porter
Local housing advocates are sounding the alarm about a recent large cut to a state trust fund for affordable housing. Last week, in its special legislative session, state lawmakers cut $190 million from the trust fund to go into the state’s general fund.
Members of the Housing Leadership Council of the Palm Beaches gathered at the Wellington Community Center for a breakfast Jan. 16 sponsored by the Palms West Chamber of Commerce to discus the state cut and other issues.
The non-profit Housing Leadership Council of the Palm Beaches was formed two years ago by several area chambers of commerce, the Economic Council of the Palm Beaches, the Workforce Alliance and the Business Development Board in order to address the lack of local affordable housing. Major employers are also members. Besides lobbying state legislators and working with local government agencies and business interests, the council also provides information to the public on housing issues such as avoiding foreclosure.
The state’s trust fund provides loans to encourage development of affordable workforce housing. Housing Leadership Council President and CEO Suzanne Cabrera said the fund is supported by a tax on real estate transactions, but beyond the most recent cut, the legislature has raided more than $400 million from it in the past three years. “I don’t know how much we can call it a trust fund anymore,” Cabrera said. “The money that goes in there is going into the general revenues, and the $190 million sweep is pretty significant. A lot of the funds are involving new construction. Those were the funds that had to be given back first.”
Cabrera said another program under attack is the State Apartment Incentive Loan (SAIL) program, which provides low-interest loans to developers of affordable rental units. She said cutting the program harms the economy in more ways than one.
“One thing that people understand is the importance of housing to the economy and the jobs it brings,” she said. “Talk about an economic stimulus package. We are robbing ourselves of the federal funds we get. For every $16 of SAIL appropriations, we get $84 in federal funds and tax credits. That is something that the state did, which had some unintended consequences and cut a lot more money than they did.”
Cabrera said that many people have the mistaken assumption that because housing prices have fallen, there is no more affordable housing shortage. While many homes are available for purchase, she said, affordable homes at middle-class prices are not.
“The supply is out there, but there are some other factors that are contributing to problems we are having with workforce housing,” Cabrera said. “One thing that has been pointed out time and time again is a mismatch of housing. We are building a lot more houses at the upper end. The prices are coming down, but there is still a mismatch of homes. One other thing that is critically important today is the lack of rental housing. Rental housing is a viable alternative [to buying] for many people. Rentals are very important.”
For more information on the Housing Leadership Council of the Palm Beaches, visit www.hlcpbc.org.
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