Affordable Housing My Ass!

It seems to be local news day, and while it's been good for the environment it's been bad for those of us not making the median income in Seattle.

First I ran across this bit on the Stranger's Blog:

City Calls $1,022 a Month "Affordable "
Posted by ERICA C. BARNETT at 03:48 PM
The city council's housing committee just voted to put off a motion that would grant $1.5 million in tax breaks to a U District developer in exchange for "affordable" rental units that would cost nearly $200 more than the average rent for the neighborhood. In exchange for the tax break, the developer, Lothlorien Apartments, would make 30 percent of its units "affordable" to renters making up to 70 percent of the Seattle median, or $38,150 for one person. For a one-bedroom, that works out to $1,022 a month; for a studio, $953. The average rent for a one-bedroom in the U District is between $757 and $843, depending on whose numbers you believe. Although the postponement won't likely change the deal offered to Lothlorien, the Seattle Displacement Coalition's John Fox said today's discussion "shows the council is serious about reconsidering the criteria" for the tax-break program.

Reconsidering the criteria for tax breaks is great, but they might want to reconsider the guidelines they put on the Section 8 housing program last year while they are at it. Seattle Housing Authority, in an effort to increase the number of people it serves, drastically lowered payment standards and changed minimum occupancy levels (that may be in violation of HUD guidelines) in August of 2005. Now that the economy is going again and rents are on the rise, the lowest income Seattle residents are going to be pushed out into the suburbs in an effort to find housing that is within the payment guidelines, or will find themselves struggling to stay in the city when their rents eat up a larger portion of their incomes. The new guidelines set the rent for a one bedroom apartment in Seattle at $762 including utilities. Knock off the SHA average of $34 per month if the only utility the tenant pays for separately is electric, and the real rental allowance for a one bedroom apartment is $728. If you use the lowball Seattle Times rents then the only areas that fit the voucher standards are White Center, Beacon Hill, Ranier Valley and North Seattle.

This isn't the first time SHA has had a problem with keeping the guidelines too low. Tenants in 2002 claimed that they were paying far above the 30 to 40 percent of their income (the standard set by HUD) because SHA kept the voucher guidelines low and tenants had to make up the difference between what their landlords charged and what SHA would allow. The 2005 guidelines lowered the ceilings even further.

Expanding the Section 8 program so that more people can participate is good, but not if it pushes the poorest people in the city even further into poverty. Either more units need to be created that match the rental standard or the rental standard has to be increased. I don't have a problem with giving a tax break to guarantee more low income housing access, but the guidelines used for those tax breaks should probably mirror the city's own rental standards. Requiring developers to offer more units at SHA levels in exchange for tax breaks would increase the number of truly "affordable" units that are available.