How Charlotte would spend housing bond money on the ballot
Polls are open, and Charlotte voters are ticking “yes” or “no” on three bond questions on their ballots, totaling $425M: $125M for affordable housing, $280M for transportation projects and $20M for neighborhood improvements.
As Charlotte housing prices soar, city officials and nonprofit leaders are urging residents to support the housing bond, hoping it can help chip away at a persistent and growing affordability crisis.
Voters have approved multiple affordable housing bonds since the first one was issued in 2002. This year’s will be the largest in Charlotte’s history, if voters approve it — and the largest addition to the city’s Housing Trust Fund, which finances new below-market-rate housing and preserves existing affordable housing. The bonds would not require a tax increase, and a simple majority of votes is required for approval.
At Charlotte City Council’s Oct. 12 meeting, council members unanimously approved updates to their affordable housing funding policy, which will help guide how the $125M will be allocated, if approved.
The categories are as follows:
$38M for rental housing construction and $31M for homeownership
Kimberly Owens, a Charlotte City Council member who is on the housing committee, said the homeownership fund would go towards some of the nonprofits the city partners with on housing projects, like Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region.
Rebecca “Bex” Orling, Habitat’s director of government grants and advocacy, said the bond funding has been crucial to the organization’s work.
“The median house cost right now in our region is $430,000…There’s a huge gap between what is affordable to a low- to moderate-income population and what’s available on the market,” Orling said. “These housing bonds really help us close that gap so that we can ensure homeowners can afford their monthly payment, be successful as homeowners and also access opportunities for generational wealth building.”
Habitat is near completion on its first two projects that used city housing bond money: Legacy Vista in north Charlotte and Little’s Landing in east Charlotte.
The money would also go towards qualifying housing projects led by both for-profit and nonprofit developers that are building both rental and for-sale affordable housing units.
Owens says she is particularly interested in spreading affordable housing across Charlotte, including wealthier enclaves, so that people who live in the units still have access to amenities. Owens represents District 6 in the south Charlotte area, and she says that that area — as well as District 7 in southernmost Charlotte — are two “high-opportunity” areas that would be potential spots for affordable housing units.
“The concentration of poverty…makes it really difficult to get amenities to come in, because you’ll have a grocer or some other retailer who will do an assessment of the area and determine that the median income for that area is not high enough for them to develop in it,” she said.
Owens added that Districts 6 and 7 are also home to high-performing schools, which is another reason she wants people of diverse incomes to be able to live there.
“We want to mix this in other places, not only so amenities can happen but also so we can give opportunities, particularly to children,” she said. “I’d like for people to have access to the schools there.”
Owens conceded that the city is still limited as to how much housing they can build, depending on the district, because of high real estate costs — housing built in District 6, for example, will likely be affordable to those making around 80% of the area median income or above.
Some have doubts about the housing bond’s effectiveness for that reason. Andrew Dunn, a conservative commentator, argued in an op-ed that previous affordable housing bonds have not actually helped those most in need, pointing out that many of the existing units are only realistic for people making 51% to 80% of the area median income.
“Developers routinely propose apartments with rents affordable at that upper level without asking for subsidies,” Dunn wrote. “Why pay for what the market already provides?”
Owens admitted that there is a “paradox” because of high real estate prices. She said in Districts 6 and 7, “you’re probably not going to see anything close to 30% AMI [area median income].”
But she and other supporters of the housing bond still believe it’s a first step.
“There are some corridors that could benefit from the additional attention,” she said.
$18M for rental housing preservation and staying in place
Owens said that this category will prioritize repairs for naturally occurring affordable housing, especially for seniors and people on fixed incomes.
“We do have a lot of older folks in [District] 6 who are trying to stay in their homes. …With the frailties of age or living on a fixed income or whatever your situation may be, a lot of times your house will fall into disrepair,” she said. “When that happens, and if you then move or die and your family is left with his house, oftentimes it becomes a much easier situation to just sell it to somebody who's going to rip it down and build something else. Then the character of the neighborhood changes.”
Owens said this $18M aims to keep housing stock more “stable,” and lessen families’ pressure to sell a house because it’s fallen into disrepair.
$12M for supportive housing and shelter capacity
Homeless shelters are managed by Mecklenburg County, not the City of Charlotte. But Owens says that some of this money will allow Charlotte to work “hand-in-hand” with the county to create a “more creative and respectful approach” to housing people in vulnerable situations, who are sometimes turned away from shelters or feel like they won’t be helped there.
“If you have a pet, if you have an addiction, if you have a spouse, if you’re a single mom with a teen son and you want to stay with him … there are a lot of dynamics that I think we could be more thoughtful about as we try to address homelessness in our community,” Owens said.
“Supportive housing” initiatives could also include housing for people who age out of foster care or are formerly incarcerated, and helping people rebuild their credit.
“For most folks, buying a house is the most important decision you’ll ever make. Helping people understand that is part of the supportive housing element,” she said.
The HTF allocation, if approved, would also include:
$10M for site acquisition and assemblage
Owens said the housing committee is interested in turning underused areas into affordable housing, especially transit corridors that experienced rapid displacement, like South Boulevard when the Lynx Blue Line was built.
“I think we’re wanting to get out in front of that, and to either convert properties we already own into opportunity zones for additional housing, or work with the county and CMS around properties that they’ve already landbanked. We want to really continue to be thoughtful in how we provide mixed-income housing,” she said.
$5M for housing rehabilitation and emergency repairs
$5M for innovation pilot programs
This includes new and creative ways to make housing more affordable that the city may explore.
$4M for energy efficiency and sustainability improvements and retrofits
This category includes bringing energy costs down in affordable housing units, from “weather-proofing” homes to green initiatives and other repairs that will make units both energy and cost efficient.
“It comes down to being able to save people money,” Owens said.
$2M for administration and evaluation
This deals with paperwork, attending conferences to learn what other steps Charlotte might take to provide affordable housing and other planning efforts.
The city has a goal of spending $25M out of the $125M on anti-displacement efforts.
“That’s sort of a premise that extends across all of it,” Owens said. “We want to continue to value our residents in ways that enable them, if they so choose, to continue to live in their neighborhoods.”
“People don't fear change [as much as] they fear loss,” Owens said. “As we grow and morph, there's going to be changes to our communities, but I'd like those changes to not be loss. And I'd like us as a city government to be able to help with that.”
The election is Nov. 3. Early voting is until Oct. 31.
Rachel Black is a reporter and writer for The Election Hub. Reach her at rachel@theelectionhub.org.
For information on this and other races on the ballot in Mecklenburg, Gaston and Cabarrus counties and beyond, check out The Election Hub. It is a project of the Civic Knowledge Initiative, a nonpartisan nonprofit based in Charlotte that makes it easy for every citizen to find, understand and act on reliable information about their local government and elected officials.
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