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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006 02 27 Reports McGinnis Housing Crisis Date: February 27,2006 The following Article was provided by Commissioner McGinnis on February 27, 2006 during "Reports". Orlando Sentinel FOUNDED 1876 KATHLEEN M. WALTZ Publisher and President News CHARWTTE H. HALL Editor and Senior Vice President Opinion JANE E. HEALY Editorial Page Editor and Vice President MANNING PYNN Public Editor Housing crisis Our position: Florida isn't even using the tools at hand for affordable housing. Between 2001 and 2004, the average salary in the Or- lando area went up 3 per- cent. The cost of housing increased 41 percent. In 2005, the gap widened even further when housing costs escalated faster than almost any other area of the nation. Meanwhile, this area has been the nation's condominium-conversion capital. About 20,000 apartments this year have been converted to pricey condos. All this translates into an afford- able-housing crisis, which has seri- ous implications for Central Flori- da's service-based economy. Solving this crisis requires new approaches by state and local governments. Florida actually had a head start addressing the need for affordable housing in 1992 when lawmakers approved the William E. Sadowski Affordable Housing Act. That law created a trust fund that gets its money from a small tax on real-es- tate documentary-stamp fees. Mon- ey in that fund is used to help build affordable housing - single-family homes and apartments - through- out Florida. The money is matched with private, federal and local dol- lars. Apartments built with that money must be affordable for 50 years. Families of four who make 120 percent or less of the area's me- dian income are eligible for the sub- sidies. The problem is that the Legisla- ture has gotten fickle. Though the documentary-stamp tax last year raised $692 million for the fund, law- makers limited to $193 million the money that could go toward the sub- sidized housing. The money over that cap has been raided over the years for other needs, such as schools and the environment. This year $250 million is going to help Floridians who lost their homes dur- ing hurricanes. Those needs are important, but this fund wasn't created to serve as a grab bag or a disaster fund It's need- ed to address ongoing affordable- housing needs. It's important for lawmakers to remove the spending cap and ensure that every dime of the fund is spent on affordable housing. Another egregious failure is thatf local government's comprehensive growth plans are supposed to ad- dress affordable housing but don't. That law says "the public and pri- vate sectors shall increase the af- fordability and availability of hous- ing for low-income and moderate-in- come persons." Yet the plans submitted by local government are filled with bureau- cratic mumbo jumbo, or simply list the affordable housing that exists in the community. They aren't worth more than the paper they are printe~ on. What's needed is a law with teeth. It needs to set specific goals for af- fordable housing. And then local government needs to make develop- ers live up to those goals by either in- cluding affordable housing in proj- ects or paying toward a fund that could provide such housing else:) where. · Tackling this issue is critical to Florida. Having a good economy shouldn't mean hardships.