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NAHRO Urges Production of Affordable Housing
The National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials welcomes today's hearing in the Senate about affordable housing production. The hearing, "Affordable Housing Production and Working Families, Part III," was to focus on basic affordable housing production issues.
NAHRO President Kurt Creager submitted testimony, saying, "NAHRO strongly believes that a production program is the appropriate response to the national need for affordable housing.
Creager notes that NAHRO has offered its version of a production program. It would supplement the efforts of local governments and local agencies to address the affordable housing shortage. NAHRO's production program is flexible and provides for local determination in addressing individual community needs. The program encourages mixed-income occupancy that has proven very successful in the HOPE VI program and many other local affordable housing programs. Mixed-financing techniques are encouraged to promote the leveraging of other sources of revenue, as well as the participation of the private and nonprofit sectors.
Two bills targeting the issue are on today's agenda and represent bipartisan support: S. 2967 from Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond's (R-MO) and S. 2967 from Sen. John Edwards (D-NC).
NAHRO has several concerns with aspects of Sen. Bond's proposal. Funds for production should be administered by local agencies because they are in the best position to determine how funds should be used. Negotiating contracts for the production of housing units is complicated and time-consuming, and should not have the additional layer of regulations and mandates that states would impose. While NAHRO supports ensuring that 100 percent of the units developed are reserved for those earning 50 percent or less of AMI, it opposes any requirement that sets aside a fixed number of units for other income groups. Finally, while the desire for mixed-income developments is admirable, NAHRO is concerned that an unintended consequence of the structure of the rental contributions in the bill could make these units unaffordable for the intended recipients.
NAHRO has established five basic principles that should guide the creation of any production proposal:
1) A federal match of state and/or local housing funds; regardless of whether
it is from state / local trust funds or through state / local participating
jurisdictions (PJ).
2) New federal appropriations on an ongoing basis, regardless of the source
of federal funds, so long as the funds are not from existing housing and community
development programs and does not diminish existing housing and community development
funding levels.
3) Allocation of federal funds where 60 percent goes to localities and 40 percent
goes to states.
4) An affordable multifamily housing rental production program, which states
explicitly that local housing agencies (LHAs) are eligible to use the funds.
5) Income targeting requirements where 100 percent of the funds are for households
with incomes below 50 percent area median income (AMI), with the opportunity
for waiver approval below 80 percent AMI.
NAHRO, established in 1933, is a membership organization of housing and community development agencies and professionals throughout the United States whose mission is to create affordable housing and safe, viable communities that enhance the quality of life for all Americans, especially those of low- and moderate-income. NAHRO's membership administers more than 3 million housing units for 7.6 million people.
For more information on NAHRO's testimony, visit this link: www.nahro.org/pressroom/2002/0925TestimonyBriefBond.pdf.
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