[PeoplesPotluck] Notice of Public Hearings on Housing Funds

Wed Dec 23 13:49:20 CST 2009

Ricky Baldwin asked me to provide some information to help people with their testimony at the public hearings about use of HOME and CDBG funds for housing.  

I think we have to keep pushing the City to commit more of the available financial resources to housing for households with incomes below the poverty level (approximately 30% of area median family income) and less to households earning 50-80% of area median income (where most of the funds for "low-income" housing have been spent for years).   

The Housing Authority of Champaign County gave its annual report to City Council this month (12/09).  Here's some data from that report that demonstrates the need:

9,358 families in Champaign County have income below 30% of area median income.

40.7% of these families are African American.

1,509 families in the county with income below 30% of area median income are on the waiting list for Section 8 housing vouchers (which subsidize rent).   The list has been closed for several years or there would be a lot more people on the waiting list (the waiting list opens for 1 or 2 weeks every 3 or 4 years).

By comparison, there are only 18 families on the Section 8 waiting list with incomes 30-50% of area median and only 1 with income between 50 and 80% of area median income.

97 families are on the waiting list for public housing (65 families with children, 7 senior citizens and 25 families with at least one member who has a disability).

The City and Housing Authority plan to "redevelop" Dunbar Court Apartments which is a 25-unit public housing complex on north Wright Street where Wright dead-ends just before Bradley.  Redevelopment of public housing has, up until now, meant loss of affordable units because the goal to is stop the concentration of low-income households by replacing public housing complexes with mixed income communities. 

Burch Village in Champaign had 70 units and the replacement housing (Douglass Square) has only 15 units that are affordable to households with incomes below 30% area median.  Lakeside Terrace in Champaign had 98 units and the replacement housing (Crystal View Townhomes) has only 25 units that are affordable to households with incomes below 30% area median.  The City spent lots of money subsidizing the Lakeside Redevelopment which is the only reason that we even got 25 of the units to be affordable for extremely low income people.

So, now there's a plan to eliminate even more of the precious few housing units that are truly affordable.   Yes, whoever is living at Dunbar Court when it's demolished will be given a Section 8 voucher so no one will be homeless as a result of redevelopment, but there will be a reduction in the total number of subsidized housing opportunities.

In part this happens because the Housing Authority lets the vacancy rate rise before demolition.  For example, 98 families could have lived at Lakeside Terrace but by the time Section 8 relocation vouchers were given out, only 72 families were still living there (even though 125 families were on the waiting list).   So, 72 vouchers replaced 98 apartments, a loss of twenty-six housing subsidies.   When the city brags that they created 25 units at Lakeside that are affordable to extremely low income people, they have nothing to brag about because they were only replacing the subsidies that were lost by demolition. 

Whenever you discuss housing policies with city officials, do not use the term "low-income" because the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines "low-income" as anyone with 80% of area median income (around $50,000 for a family of four).   "Very low income" means income up to 50% of area median.   For home ownership programs, these definitions might make sense, but as all the data show, including the data from the Housing Authority of Champaign County, the need is for housing for households with incomes below 30% of area median.    HUD calls that "extremely low income" so in all testimony, please specify "housing for extremely low income households."

The Heartland Alliance reported last year that only 19% of all households in Champaign County whose incomes are below the poverty level receive any type of subsidy to help pay rent.  That leaves 81% of impoverished families receiving no help at all.

The Continuum of Care, of which the City of Urbana is a part, conducted a count of the homeless last August.  Of course, they missed a lot of people, but among those they found in shelters or on the street, they counted 594 homeless people, 358 of whom were children.

That's up 20% from a January 2009 count of 495 homeless people.   (January 2007 survey counted 429 homeless).   So the problem of homelessness is not just a consequence of the current economic crisis; however, the crisis has made worse a problem that was already serious.  

At all of the hearings, the City officials need to hear, over and over again, that homelessness is caused by lack of affordable housing.  Even if the City can't finance housing for everyone who needs it, too much of the money they could be spending on housing for the lowest income people is being spent on housing for people whose incomes are above 30% of area median.   Those are worthy programs, but the dire needs of the poorest among us should be a higher priority.   The programs for the poorest people might not be as sexy as city-subsidized programs like the Eco-houses (a great idea but are owner-occupied by households with incomes close to 80% of area median), but they are much more important for meeting the vital needs of the people of our community.

If anyone who attends the hearing and testifies submits his/her comments in writing, those comments will be included in the document sent to HUD about the hearings and in documents given to the mayor and council members.   

If anyone has any specific questions that would like to direct to me rather than to the entire list, please write to me at estherpatt at hotmail.com.

Thank you for caring and for any help you can provide,

Esther 

Date: Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:27:01 -0800
From: baldwinricky at yahoo.com
Subject: Re: [PeoplesPotluck] Notice of Public Hearings on Housing Funds
To: abbilyn at gmail.com; jandurl at comcast.net; a-fields at illinois.edu; peoplespotluck at lists.chambana.net; estherpatt at hotmail.com

Thanks, Esther!  We should try to turn out some folks to this.  Any particulars you can share with us as an expert in the field that might beef up our testimony?

Ricky

"Speak your mind even if your voice shakes." - Maggie Kuhn

--- On Tue, 12/22/09, Esther Patt <estherpatt at hotmail.com> wrote:

From: Esther Patt <estherpatt at hotmail.com>
Subject: [PeoplesPotluck] Notice of Public Hearings on Housing Funds
To: abbilyn at gmail.com, "Durl Kruse" <jandurl at comcast.net>, "Belden Fields" <a-fields at illinois.edu>, "Peoples Potluck" <peoplespotluck at lists.chambana.net>
Date: Tuesday, December 22, 2009, 11:37 AM

The attached flier lists dates and locations of 4 public hearings (January 4 - 7) in Urbana about the city's 5-year plan for expenditure of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME funds (federal funds received by the city which can be used for housing programs for low income households).   

If you want to speak about the need for more money being spent on housing for individuals and families with incomes below the poverty level, this is your chance in Urbana.    

City of Champaign should be holding similar hearings in January but I don't have their meeting schedule yet.

Esther Patt
Champaign-Urbana Tenant Union

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