Housing Bond Passes, Now What?

It’s now time for heavy lifting (and listening) to make our community’s ideas become closer to a reality.

The vote is in. The Affordable Housing Bond has passed in Durham. Which only means one thing . . .

It’s officially time to roll up our sleeves.

It’s the public’s job to help make sure that the bond the community voted for lands on its feet. That includes making sure that when policy becomes a process with intended outcomes, that we remember the human face behind those efforts.

And of course, as you saw in our last post, the bond will have an impact, but there are still thousands in Durham in need of affordable housing above what can be provided in the next 5 years from the bond.

Here are some things you can do to help:

Watch (and listen) for right of return. A big concern is that those who currently have affordable housing and need to move temporarily while their home is being renovated or rebuilt, do not lose their housing.
Look for the City Council to establish a committee to help with transparency. According to Mayor Steve Schewel, “It is imperative and non-negotiable that there be a City Council-appointed accountability and advisory committee that works closely with DHA and the City’s staff during the entire five-year implementation period for the housing bond.”[1]
Offer someone else affordable housing. If you are a landlord, consider joining in the city’s efforts to make your properties affordable. If you aren’t, consider making the case to people you know about why affordable housing is important for everyone in the city. Or get inspired by one of your neighbors, Blake Townsend, who has invested in affordable housing for UMD clients.
Be mindful of those who are living the process of making the housing bond a reality. Not everyone is going to experience immediate joy on passage of the bond. While it can mean a long-term advantage for some, many of those in need of affordable housing have to live life in a short-term world. For them the bond means having to move (at least twice!) over the next 5 years, in addition to feeling mistrust and fear. It will be important to listen and hear different perspectives from our own, especially from those being directly affected.
Don’t stop giving. If you are currently giving to a public homeless service provider, please continue to do so. For the bond to have its best chance at injecting change into our system, current giving needs to stay constant. That means extra dollars leveraged by the bond can help enhance our current system rather than just maintain it.

And of course, stay tuned to the blog for updates on issues impacting those experiencing poverty and homelessness in our community.

[1] Steve Schewel, Interview, Durham For All, https://durhamforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Schewel-2019-D4A-mayor-questionnaire.pdf, pg. 2.

Affordable Housing: Living on the Edge in Durham

Thank you joining us again. This post is Part 2 in our series on the Durham Affordable Housing Bond. If you didn’t catch Part 1: The Facts, click here.

So what is affordable housing anyway?

There are two standards to measure affordable housing. 1) percentage of income below AMI (Annual Median Income) qualifies a household for assistance for affording a home 2) percentage of income going toward housing should be no more than 30% for housing to be considered affordable.

What is the annual median income in Durham?

The annual median income for an entire household (pre-tax) for the Durham-Chapel Hill Metropolitan Statistical Area is $80,600.[1] Income is best understood by considering the number of individuals within one household. Below you can see what the percentage AMI is for a variety of households and income levels and what type of assistance they are usually capable of receiving.

How many households need affordable housing according to the AMI criteria?

Income Level	1 person household	2 person household	3 person household	4 person household	Assistance Eligibility (approx..)
30% AMI	$17,850	$20,400	$22,950	$25,450	Public Housing
60% AMI	$35,640	$40,740	$45,840	$50,880	Low End of Affordable Home Ownership Programs
80% AMI	$47,500	$54,300	$61,110	$67,850	High End of Affordable Home Ownership Programs
2019 Area Median Income for Durham-Chapel Hill MSA*[2]	$59,425	$67,925	$76,430	$84,815	Affordable Housing is Market Rate

“According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, nearly half of Durham households—53,525 to be exact—earn 80 percent of the AMI or less. (In 2018, that was about $72,000 for a family of three.) Eighteen thousand families earn less than 30 percent of the AMI, about $21,700.”[3]

How many households in Durham are in need of affordable housing using criteria 2?

Spending more than 30% of total income on housing is considered being cost-burdened by housing. According to the NC Housing Coalition, 31% of Durham County residents (39,582 households) are cost-burdened; 49% of renters (28,917 households) and 16% of homeowners (10,665 households) are cost-burdened.

How many new units will be provided through the bond/5-year plan?

New properties will add 863 affordable units, 405 market rate units will be added.[4] The number of spaces for public assistance cannot be decreased. The city estimates that 1,600 affordable units will be created and that 800 units will be preserved.

As you can see, the need for affordable housing is high in Durham. The bond and 5-year plan will have an impact, but we will still need to work hard as a community to make an affordable Durham a reality for all of us.

[1] NC Housing Coalition infographic. https://nchousing.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/NCH-CountyProfile-Durham.pdf

[2] Calculated by UMD using COD provided AMI levels of 30/60/80

[3] Sarah Willets, “What You Need to Know About the Largest Proposed Housing Bond Referendum in North Carolina History,” Indy Week, 2/26.

[4] Campaign website. https://www.durhamaffordablehousingbond.com/en/the-plan

Durham Affordable Housing Bond: The Facts

At UMD, we talk a lot about affordable housing. So, with a bond referendum on the ballot for November 5^th, we realize we need to do our part by making sure that our donors, volunteers, and Durham neighbors can utilize us as a thought partner in that conversation. The purpose of this post is to round up and research information as we have it, and put it in your hands.

So, what are we voting on?

A 1.6 cent tax increase per $100 of assessed property value to fund a $95 million dollar affordable housing bond. Passage of the bond will leverage an additional $65 million of local and federal funds to create a $160 million 5-year plan (2020-2024) to combat Durham’s lack of affordable housing.

Who is paying?

The tax is directly aimed at property owners. Indirectly, it is possible that this fee or part of this fee may be passed on to renters when their landlords’ tax bill rises.

How much will the tax end up costing homeowners?

The average tax value of a home in Durham is $229,246 with a current property tax of $1,219. A 1.6 cent increase in property tax would add $37 to that tax bill.[1]

What will the bond pay for?

The city is presenting a wide-range of funding to address Durham’s affordable housing need. Take a look at this graphic we created using the line-item budgets and project descriptions from both the City of Durham’s website and the official Durham Affordable Housing Bond campaign site.

Homeless Programs will receive $10.5 million over 5 years. How does that affect UMD?

As you can see, much of this money is allocated to specific issues pertaining to homelessness, not all of which UMD will likely qualify for. When UMD applies for government grants, we usually qualify for “Emergency Shelter” and “Rapid Rehousing,” a line item which is set to receive $3.46 million. These terms often have specific funding designations for how and where funds can be used by an organization. Consider that it costs $3.8 million per year, including in-kind support, to operate UMD, and that multiple homeless service providers in Durham are likely to be eligible to receive portions of this funding. Activities listed under Homeless System Investments are important parts of the Durham Continuum of Care for the city’s homeless population, but they are not direct activities of UMD that would bring funding to our agency. UMD and others will need to apply for this funding in a competitive RFP (Request for Proposal) process.

The biggest chunk, $58.9 million, is for redeveloping Durham Housing Authority Projects, including the DHA Office. What are the four communities being redeveloped?

J.J. Henderson: 807 S. Duke Street (across from Durham Freeway and American Tobacco)

Forest Hills Heights: 700 S. Mangum Street (across from Durham Freeway and Durham Bulls Athletic Park)

Oldham Towers: 519 East Main Street (on block of E. Main and N. Dillard Street across from UMD)

Liberty Street: 131 Commerce Street (on block of Liberty Street and N. Dillard Street across from UMD and WTVD)

Durham has 14 DHA properties, why were these chosen and what’s the plan for the others?

These properties were chosen because “the downtown location will attract the financing necessary for the redevelopments to succeed.”[2] The goal is to “deconcentrate poverty by making these properties mixed income developments.”[3] Four other DHA properties were recently updated and the remaining six properties will be considered after the 5-year plan concludes.[4]

Stay tuned tomorrow to find out more about the affordable housing need in Durham and the expected impact on that need as outlined by the City of Durham.

[1] “One Page Informational Handout,”City of Durham Website, <https://durhamnc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/27969/One-Page-Informational-Handout>; “Facts and Figures Sheet” Durham Affordable Housing Bond Campaign website, <https://www.durhamaffordablehousingbond.com/en/overview>.

[2] FAQs, Campaign Website.

[3] The Plan, Campaign Website.

[4] FAQs, Campaign Website.