Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther proposed on January 14 that $50 million out of a $1.03 billion bond package be devoted to affordable housing. Columbus residents will vote on the bond proposal on May 7, when it will appear on the primary-election ballot. The $50 million bond revenue will help construct new or renovate existing affordable homes to address the city’s severe shortage. Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio’s (AHACO’s) research on affordable housing needs, strategy-recommendations for addressing the affordable housing shortage, and advocacy were instrumental in the city taking this significant step.
If voters approve the bond initiative in May, it will be the first time a Columbus bond package creates a dedicated affordable housing fund. The city’s affordable housing allocation is normally determined in the annual capital budget, which last year included $5 million for affordable housing. The mayor later doubled that commitment, to come from current bond revenue rather than increased taxes.
There are few details on how the new bond funds—which will be available beginning in 2020—will be used, and the city has indicated that lack of specificity is intentional. The Mayor has assigned city staff to work with the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission to develop a regional – rather than city-specific - housing plan for the Columbus area.
The mayor considers affordable housing to be one of the greatest challenges facing the city. The monthly HUD Fair Market Rent (FMR) in 2018 for a two-bedroom apartment in Franklin County was $910. A household must earn $36,400 a year to afford a two-bedroom apartment at the FMR. The mean renter income in Franklin County, however, is less than $34,500 a year, and the county is home to thousands of extremely low-income seniors, people with disabilities, and families with children who have incomes far lower than the mean.
Franklin County has 54,000 households living in or near poverty and paying more than half of their income on housing. The Affordable Housing Alliance has a ten-year goal of cutting the affordable housing shortfall in half with supply-side (construction and rehabilitation of homes for renters and homeowners) and demand-side (rental assistance) solutions. The short-term goal is to benefit 3,000 residents in Franklin County in three years.
The $50 million bond package will help alleviate the affordable housing crisis in Columbus, but more resources will be needed to fully address the shortage of affordable homes. AHACO will continue to advocate for resources to fund affordable homes for the community’s lowest-income households, including new development funds like those in the bond package.
Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio Chair E. J. Thomas applauded the mayor's proposal: "The Alliance is very grateful for the mayor's leadership on addressing the affordable housing challenge. We are confident that these bond funds can leverage additional public- and private-sector affordable housing resource commitments. We are well on the way to securing funding for the Alliance's 3-Year Start-Up Plan in 2019.”