Colorado lawmaker’s possess a prime opportunity to secure policy that would create stability for many Coloradoans through homeownership.
HB 18-1195 leverages private funds to build affordable homes in Colorado by incentivizing philanthropic contributions to nonprofits building affordable homes to transfer into ownership. With staggering numbers of our Southwest Colorado workforce struggling to find affordable entry-level home ownership opportunities, HB18-1195 has the potential to greatly influence the current demand for affordable workforce housing.
In 2017, over 61 percent of wage earners in La Plata County earned wages between $15,000 –$44,500. This population would, on average, be able to afford homes with mortgages of $185,000 – $220,000. Currently, this type of housing is rare, increasingly resulting in substandard and over-crowded rental housing.
Through a tax-credit incentive, funds to assist in creating more housing units for those struggling would become available for many organizations focused on building low-income housing. For our community, more funding is crucial to our productivity. As local builders meet the needs of those flocking to our beautiful county, producing affordable homes has taken a back seat.
Stanford and Harvard studies suggest the impact of homeownership on children and adults is dramatic. Adults often vote for the first time. Children – through the stability of home life – show between 9-12 percent scholastic improvement. Behavioral and emotional issues often improve with consistent and affordable housing.
As our subsidized rental market becomes strained because of a lack of units and Section 8 vouchers, households are finding it difficult to move into fair-market rentals. Young professionals and households with slightly higher incomes contribute 65-82 percent of their monthly income to housing. Neither of these rental situations is conducive to stability, mobility or empowerment.
Though the voucher program re-opened last week for the first time in over four years (Herald, April 29) and allows low-income families, the elderly and disabled to pay 30 percent of their monthly income to rent and utilities, with federal funding covering the rest, it is not expected to last long.
As a community development strategy and to honor our diversity, our community should be working to move people into home ownership to retain employees, teachers, young professionals, serve veterans and the elderly. HB18-1195 provides the opportunity for this inclusive approach to affordable housing.
Habitat’s model is designed for home ownership and fixes mortgages at 30 percent of monthly income; making home ownership attainable on a wage once considered unlivable. The benefits extend far into the community too. As time passes, new homeowners experience stability and become actively involved in school parenting initiatives and all forms of volunteerism.
Habitat for Humanity’s Colorado affiliates are the largest providers of affordable homeownership in the state with 2,600 homes built, renovated and repaired to date. Your local Habitat has built 54 homes since 1994. Over 98 percent of our revenue is re-invested in our community through active construction projects and ReStore initiatives.
Habitat for Humanity homeowners throughout the state contribute approximately $3.1 million in property taxes each year. Home equity is the leading asset Coloradans can leverage to start a business, finance a college education or invest in other activities. Homeownership offers economic mobility.
Homeownership reduces public assistance need. According to a recent study by The Evaluation Center at CU Denver, an estimated $1.5M in public assistance funding was saved in 2016 because Habitat homeowners, just in metro Denver alone, no longer needed it.
Communities throughout our state need the right mix of safe, stable rental units and for-sale housing that hardworking Coloradans at all income levels can afford. HB 18-1195 is a bipartisan bill that incentivizes public-private partnerships to create affordable, for-sale homes.
HB18-1195 offers a powerful solution to increase affordable housing in Colorado, and now is the time to raise our voices for individuals and families who desperately need the stability of homeownership. Contact your state lawmakers today to let them know that affordable homeownership is imperative to the future of our state. Considering that Colorado’s home values have increased by 8.6 percent in the last year alone, we can’t wait any longer. Now is the time to act.
Rachel Taylor-Saghie is Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of La Plata County and an Advocacy Ambassador with Habitat International, Reach her at director@habitatlaplata.org.
