HUD Releases Physical Inspections Data

As part of the Obama administration's effort to promote transparency and openness, HUD recently added the overall Physical Inspection Scores to the HUD USER website. Available results are for inspections conducted from 2001 through September 2009....

I haven't looked at this closely, but this should be an interesting project for someone. It's been years since I've worked with data sets like this, so I'm hoping to find someone willing to tackle this before I try to fiddle with it. Be aware the entire United States and terrorities are included in the data sets so you'll have to hunt for information if you're interested in finding something.

Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to give many details other than the score; they don't seem to say why the site received the score they did.

Smart Growth Interview

An interesting interview with Andres Duany, a founder of Congress for the New Urbanism, on the Smart Growth in Builder Online.

One of the points he makes is that while New Urbanism is "market-focused and private sector focused", and Smart Growth is more of a government & policy focus, they are surpringly similiar.

I especially liked the question on zoning and smart growth issues. I don't think most people realize that in many communities, much of their current buildings and neighborhoods would be illegal under current local zoning standards.

BUILDER: In that case, how do you level the playing field, considering the zoning necessary for smart growth is illegal in some places?
DUANY: This is so important. Most places have smart growth guidelines in place, but they don’t have specific codes and standards in place. The comprehensive plan may call for smart growth, but when it comes down to it, the schools are still huge (which presumes that a bunch of parents will be driving their kids to get there), and the neighborhoods are still mapped out according to a system of privileges where all of the houses in a given area are similar in size and price. There is a lack of mixed use, and everything has parking lots out front. You can say what you want in a comprehensive plan and a statement of intent, but if the technical documents are not there for implementing smart growth, the ball is dropped.

Congress passes Omnibus Appropriations Bill

Congress has passed an Omnibus appropriations bill (which does NOT include the Dept. of Defense appropriations I referred to in my previous post).

According to Enterprise,

The bill provides about $46 billion in discretionary funding for HUD, including $18.2 billion for Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers and $8.6 billion for the Section 8 project-based rental assistance program. The bill funds both HOPE VI ($200 million) and the new Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (as a $65 million set-aside within the HOPE VI account). Finally, for the CDFI Fund, $107 million is appropriated for CDFI Program Financial Awards and Technical Assistance, and $80 million for the newly established Capital Magnet Fund.

Ask your Senators to support the National Housing Trust Fund!

According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition's Outreach Association, Elisha Harig-Blaine, the House should be moving to fund the National Housing Trust Fund in the Defense Appropriations bill, HR 3326. However, there is uncertainity on what the Senate will do, so your assistance in contacting the Senators are needed.

Please contact Senator Feingold and Senator Kohl to ask them to support the inclusion of $1 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund, and $65 million for project-based vouchers in the Defense Appropriations Bill. If the Senators are supportive, please ask them to contact Senator Durbin to express their support of the inclusion of those funds.

NLIHC estimates that Wisconsin will receive $15.5 million, creating 234 construction jobs and 59 ongoing jobs.

You can call the Congressional switchboard at 877-210-5351 and ask for either Senator Feingold or Senator Kohl's offices. Then do it again for the other Senator.

This is one of the last steps in the long campaign over the many years to create & fund the National Housing Trust Fund. Let's work together to make sure it happens.

Pabst Farms in the News

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has a generally optimistic business article on the Pabst Farms development. I'm not going to get into the whole issue of how Pabst Farms was an abuse of Tax Incremental Funding, and how it doesn't include affordable housing for the workers for the retail developments or the hospital.

However, this part jumped out at me:

Rights-of-way for an interchange at I-94 and Highway P/Sawyer Road on the eastern edge of the Pabst Farms Development have been acquired.

I've drove by Pabst Farm a few times, and there is no way there is a need for a new intersection for a long time. This is a "build and they will come" mentality.

This development has been heavily subsidized already, to the tune of $24 million as Mr. Rowen notes.

By comparison, The Waukesha County Affordable Housing Taskforce, is asking for $2.5 million a year, even though the need is much greater in the County. Imagine what could be done with $24 million (not including the proposed new interchange!).

Quick Assortment of News

A quick assortment of housing-related news as we head into the weekend:

• The National Low-Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) has released a preliminary estimate of how much each state would receive from a National Housing Trust fund funded at $1 billion. Wisconsin would receive 1.5% of the total funds, or $15.5 million. If you have not already contacted your Senators and your Representative to request that the Trust Fund (which has already passed, but is unfunded) be capitalized with at least $1 billion. It's not too late to contact them. More details here.
• The latest newsletter for Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) is out with an announcement from Executive Director Anthonio Riley that more than $100 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the "stimulus funding," will be used to jump-start 36 developments around the state, creating over 2,000 jobs. The newsletter also has a nice description of the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP). It doesn't, however, answer the most pressing question I have: Why is it HPRP not HPRRP as is logical?
• Speaking of WHEDA, they are being criticized by Senator Grothman (R-West Bend) for spending $1,400 on "floral decorations for holiday reception." The Senator suggests that WHEDA donate the money to the Madison Salvation Army shelter. I wonder, though, why didn't he suggest instead that the money be given to a homeless organization in his district, Hebron House?
• IndependenceFirst's newsletter, Breaking Away is available online with four housing-related items.

Cool Intersection of Design & Autism

Very cool how this software, SketchUp, for architects & design professionals had an unexpected benefit for children with autism.

It all started when Google's Tom Wyman and Chris Cronin started getting enthusiastic calls and e-mails from architects who had children on the spectrum. Their kids, the parents reported, had discovered the software program and loved it. All they needed was their creativity and a computer mouse and they could design entire neighborhoods.

Autism can be a difficult and frustrating disability with people having difficulty communicating through speech and writing, but they can excel at visual thinking.

Using SketchUp, educators can map out unfamiliar environments that kids with autism might visit, like office buildings, city parks or doctors' offices. The unknown can be a major stressor for kids with autism. If the student has a teeth-cleaning appointment, for example, teachers can create a SketchUp model of the space, complete with the dentist's chair, then walk the child through what to expect when he gets there.

More information can be found at Project Spectrum or The Autism Collaborative.

National Housing Trust Fund Call-In Days

The National Low-Income Housing Coalition is requesting that people call their Senators and Representatives on December 1 and 2 to request that the National Housing Trust Fund be funded with $1 billion. More details at the link.

The National Housing Trust Fund was originally intended to be funded with profits from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but the economy and housing collapse prevented that from happening-at least for now.

You may have heard proposals to use money from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), but apparently the Administration is opposing that source, so it's best, when you call, that you don't indicate where the money should come from, only that it should be funded.

So on December 1 and 2, use your fingers to start pressing the numbers!

877-210-5351 is the toll free number for the congressional switchboard. Ask to be connected to the housing staffer for your representative's and senators' offices.

Congratulations to Gorman & Company, Inc.

Congratulations to Gorman & Company, Inc. for the HUD Secretary's Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation. This development is in Beloit, and Gorman has a strong presence in Milwaukee and elsewhere across the state. But oddly, apparently not in Waukesha County.

This is an example of the kind of attractive historic preservation that can be done with tax credits and subsidized housing funds in communities.

Wisconsin Lead Poisoning Prevention Week

Sorry about the late notice, but I just found out that it's currently Wisconsin Lead Poisoning Prevent Week, Oct 25-31. The Department of Health Services has some helpful information and resources for people concerned about lead in their homes.

For a look at what areas are impacted, there are maps of communities in Wisconsin impacted by lead, including Waukesha and Waukesha County.

If only there was some kind of-I don't know, a trust fund?-to help fund lead removal efforts. Oh, wait, one has been proposed for Waukesha County!

Trust fund or no, if the building was built before 1950, you should get your home/property tested.

Concrete Change Video

An old video from Concrete Change back in the 1990's, but the message is enduring. It's called Building Better Neighborhoods and here's Part 2.

This has been done in many parts of the country-Visitability and Universal Design isn't some radical concept that will cost a fortune to implement, it's a common-sense approach to housing and honestly, why not incorporate it in every home now? What is it about those two or three steps that are so magical?

Why can't builders just do it automatically? Why can't buyers make sure that homes have this?

Credit Conditions across the U.S.

A great map courtesy of Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It shows the credit conditions of United States, and it’s set to mortgages when you get to the site, but there’s other credit types you can look at (auto, credit cards, student) at http://data.newyorkfed.org/creditconditions/. It’s set to the recent quarter, but you can also look at changes from last year. You can also enter a specific county to look at.

Fine print I should really stress here; the vast swath of gray in the Great Plains state is because the population is so low, so they don’t map it (due to extreme changes a low number of people can have on the statistics).

Sobering look at foreclosures

Looks like we're not done yet. Story here. The question is, how will this affect the Milwaukee metro area?

But Hudson & Marshall and its rivals say they are gearing up for more (auctions) in the coming months, convinced that a moratorium on foreclosures earlier this year only postponed what they believe is an inevitable avalanche of new repossessions.

"The foreclosures are going to explode again," said Webb.

Cameron's House for Sale!

Remember the house Ferris Bueller's friend Cameron lived in? The one where Cameron crashed his father's Ferrari through the picture windows?

It's for sale.

Own a piece of Ferris Bueller history for only $2.3 million! It comes with its own Facebook fan page but the infamous Ferrari isn't included.

Universal Design in public space

Saw this blog today at Planetizen about incorporating Universal Design into everyday designing & planning. Although the author specifically talks about sidewalks and streets in Buenos Aries, this type of public accessibility are covered by federal laws in United States. But still, the basic concept as described is why I and other advocates for people with disabilities promote Universal Design in planning and design:

What do these failures cost? A lot, in reduced productivity and lost dignity. People who lack basic mobility (link is from original article)are unable to participate in activities that most of us take for granted: schooling, employment, shopping, recreation and socializing.

Even if the streets and sidewalks are 100% accessible (which ideally, they should be), failure to use Universal Design in other areas such as housing, both multi-family and single-family, can limit the options available to people with disabilities. People may not be able to get in & out of their homes if they suddenly acquired a disability (accidents happen everyday, you know). They might not be able to live where they want, close to their families, friends, church or job. They may not be able to visit their friends & families whose homes are inaccessible to them.

This is why I am working to ensure that housing that a Waukesha County Housing Trust Fund provides funding for incorporates Universal Design or Visitability.

National speaker shows the way to a housing trust fund

Wednesday evening, Mary Brooks spoke at La Casa de Esperanza about finding funding for a county housing trust fund. She is the Director of the Housing Trust Fund Project, a project of the Center for Community Change in Washington, DC.

Mary showed the audience how other communities across the country have funded housing trust funds using electronic filing fees, document recording fees, and real estate transfer fees, among dozens of other funding sources. Mary Peschel, Co-Coordinator of the Waukesha County Affordable Housing Task Force, also identified some potential funding options in Waukesha County, such as a portion of interest income.

Mary Brooks reminded us why creating a housing trust fund is such a good way to address affordable housing needs. A housing trust fund provides ongoing public revenues to continue to support affordable housing development over time. And both Marys pointed out that housing trust funds benefit the whole community that they're in, by adding to the property tax base, creating construction-related jobs, and stimulating funding from other sources (like federal and private funds).

A big thank you to those who attended! The audience included task force members, a city planner, foundation leaders, and representatives from nonprofit organizations, a major employer in the county, and a state agency. City and county officials were in attendance, as well, including County Board Supervisors Fritz Ruf and Jean Tortomasi, City of Waukesha Mayor Larry Nelson, and County Director of Administration Norm Cummings.

Downtown focus revitalizes Milwaukee

I know, I know, Milwaukee isn't in Waukesha County, but I thought many Waukesha communities could draw some lessons from Milwaukee's resurging downtown.

Read all about it here at the Urban Engagement Blog.

Lesson 1 seems to be: Don't separate the residents from downtown; make sure there's housing in your downtown area as that increases the streetscape vitality and help support the downtown businesses. There's a good number of new luxury housing such as the towers on the lakefront and the beerline condos, but there's also affordable housing in the form of tax-credit properties and subsidized housing nearby (redeveloped public housing authority properties into mixed-income housing).

Lesson 2: Redevelop! If something isn't serving its purpose well, don't be afraid to get rid of it & use that land for something else. Of course, the article doesn't mention that the majority of the land from the former Parkeast freeway is still empty.

Lesson 3: Embrace your assets. Milwaukee used the river, which it ignored in the past, as a tool to revitalize the downtown. Many communities in Waukesha County have rivers and lakes. Don't have a watery asset? Think Central Park (OK, parks are not in the article-my two cents).

Remember This Week's Event!

Our next big event is coming up this Wednesday, October 7 at 5:30-7:00 p.m. at La Casa de Esperanza in Waukesha. Show your support for a housing trust fund in Waukesha County and learn more about it at Finding Funding for County Housing Trust Funds.

We are very excited to have Mary Brooks in town from California as our guest speaker. She is the Director of the Housing Trust Fund Project at the Center for Community Change, and she is widely known as the national expert on housing trust funds. She will be telling us about what other communities around the country have done to support affordable housing through housing trust funds. And our own Mary Peschel will be talking about how we could do the same here, and how it would help the people who live and/or work here.

If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Mary Peschel at maryp@cacscw.org.

New WI Senate Bill

A new Senate bill, S 314 relating to traditional neighborhood development and conservation subdivisions. I haven't read it closely yet, but I thought I'd throw it out for discussion. Your thoughts? At first glance, it seems to try to provide for a greater transparency by having communities report to the State if they're in compliance with an existing law, and to promote greater cooperation between various agencies on the state housing plan to promote model development.

Leave your thoughts in comments. Don't embarass me with zero comments!

Follow-up on Homeless Veterans

Two days ago, I blogged about a CNN article on homeless female veterans, and today, I attended a presentation at Milwaukee's Continuum of Care by Barbara Gilbert, Program Manager of the Mental Health Division at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center.

She discussed the CHALENG Program, "Community Homelessness Assessment, Local Education and Networking Groups" which is a program designed to improve the continuum of care by the local VA and community agencies. Using CHALENG surveys, veterans' needs are ranked-both from the consumer's perspective and from the service provider's perspective.

In Milwaukee area, the identified needs are long-term & permanent housing, immediate shelter, and Job training/emotional psychiatric services.

HUD estimates that nationally, 15% of all homeless adults are veterans, and locally, according to VA, there are an estimated 216 homeless veterans. A temporary overflow shelter operated last winter by the Hebron House of Hospitality served 131 homeless men, of which 20% were veterans.

While the local community groups (such as Guest House of Milwaukee who is collaborating with VA to increase access to supportive housing) have been very supportive of VA and efforts to serve homeless veterans, better housing, better programs and services are still needed to serve not only our veterans, but also to other people who are homeless.

UPDATE: For clarification, the Waukesha information comes from Executive Summary of the Study Group Report on the Waukesha Overflow Shelter.

Update 2: People interested in veteran mental health issues should check out the Wisconsin Warrior Summit on October 22th.

Could things have been different?

What could have been done differently in the past? What can we do differently from here on?

CNN article on homeless veterans

Interesting article on homeless female veterans. The situation isn't as bad here in Wisconsin as it is in other states with a large number of military bases, but we're still seeing some homeless veterans (both male & female) in the metro area. Waukesha County has, and is projected to continue to have, an affordable housing shortage, so I wonder how Waukesha County will serve our men and women returning from military service.

The Political Environment: In Support Of Housing, UN Declarss October 5th World Habitat Day

James Rowen at The Political Environment talks about some of the issues of affordable housing in the region.

The Political Environment: In Support Of Housing, UN Declarss October 5th World Habitat Day

Key points to consider:

This is because fair and affordable housing for thousands of residents is and has been effectively limited, even denied, through a combination of a) the 1955 state law barring annexation that applies only to the City of Milwaukee, b) aggressive local zoning codes that ban multi-unit housing and c) regional enabling of suburban sprawl that has encouraged development far from the urban center in Milwaukee.

Come to next event to learn about revenue sources

Come to the Task Force's next event, Finding Funding for County Housing Trust Funds on Wednesday, October 7 at 5:30-7:00 p.m. at La Casa de Esperanza, 410 Arcadian Avenue in Waukesha. The main speaker is Mary Brooks, Director of the Housing Trust Fund Project, a national resource on housing trust funds at the Center for Community Change in Washington D.C. She will speak about the dedicated public revenue sources other communities use to support affordable housing through housing trust funds.

We'll discuss funding options for a Waukesha County housing trust fund and the benefits of having one. If you plan to attend, please pre-register at maryp@cacscw.org or 262-354-4017.

New RTA proposal, but no Waukesha

Governor Doyle announced today at the Milwaukee Intermodal Station that a new Regional Transit Authority would created. Initially, there will be sub-RTAs before being eventually merged into a true RTA with proportional representation of each County. Details here.

The new RTA will be responsible for the continued progress of the new Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) rail connection as well as better positioning the communities to obtain federal funding.

When the bus and rail service is fully implemented, this should provide an economic boost to the communities involved, especially with the KRM connection. It should also make it easier for people to find housing-they'd have more options with a greater geographic area available for them to look in, and linkages to employment areas will make it easier to find jobs (and afford better housing).

It looks like at this time this RTA is limited to three counties, but there's no reason why Waukesha can't become part of it in the near future. But will Waukesha County?

Update: Story on JSOnline. Rowen notes that Waukesha is out by choice.

Department of D'oh!

A recent review of existing research on family homelessness has affirmed that the primary cause for most homelessness among families is the inability to find housing they can afford

D'oh! I would've never guessed that.

I know, I'm being sarcastic, but honestly, when communities enact policies that, deliberately or not, make housing more costly, what exactly do they think is going to happen? That all the people who work at their McDonald's, their Starbucks, who watch and educate their kids, clean their houses, will somehow magically appear at the start of each shift? And go away "somewhere else" (fantasyland, perhaps?) when their shift is done? Look to Oconomowoc, Pewaukee, even the City of Waukesha & their "ad hoc housing mix report" all seem to operate under the belief system that people of lower economic classes should live somewhere else-anywhere else.

When will people realize that it's simply not practical-or good for our greater community-to keep doing this? President Bush had an initiative to end homelessness and prioritized funding for that, a priority that continues to this day. Despite that, we see:

The release of this review comes on the heel of another release: the 2008 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The report suggests family homelessness increased over the last year.

New Monthly Action for September

The monthly action for September is to let us know your county supervisory district! To find out which district you're in, click here. Type in your address to get a list of all your elected officials. About halfway down the page, your county supervisory district number is listed, and the name of your county board supervisor.

Please e-mail Mary Peschel to let her know you're an affordable housing advocate, and which district you're from. This action will help us to know if we have good representation from around the county when we contact our county board supervisors in support of a housing trust fund.

Two New Endorsers of a Housing Trust Fund

Two new organizations have signed on to endorse a housing trust fund in Waukesha County. Those two groups are Evergreen Consulting, Inc. in Milwaukee and the Women's Center in Waukesha, bringing the total number of endorsing organizations to 34.

Our base of support is growing for the establishment of a county housing trust fund to support affordable homes in the county's communities. To view the full list of endorsers, please visit our website, and click on the attachment, "Ongoing endorsement list.pdf" at the bottom of the page.

TIFs Suffering in Villages

An interesting Daily Reporter article regarding Tax Incremental Financing Districts in the smaller communities that are suffering losses in value. It seems that in this economic times, many TIDs are seeing losses in their value.

Make no mistake, though-they may be seeing a loss this year, but they've likely had gains in past few years and will again in the future. But it does extend the length of time it would take some TIDs to be paid off-and when the extra year could be added with the TID money being used for affordable housing under the new law.

Affordable Home Ownership Improves Neighborhoods

"Tunraround seen for Woodlands" appeared Sunday August 16, 2009 in the Local Section of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. This article, well researched and reported by Georgia Pabst, documents the improvements that can be made to a neighborhood when non-profit organizations and government agencies work together on a cooperative plan. In this specific case, refurbished 3 and 4 bedroom condos are selling for $20,000 to $35,000, and the pride of ownership along with improved government services are transforming the entire neighborhood.

What does this have to do with Creating Communities in Waukesha County? It relates on several levels. First, the NIMBY fear of affordable housing does not make sense. If a neighborhood like the Woodlands can be improved through the carefully planned development of affordable housing, it can happen in Waukesha County as well. Second, part of the redevelopment cost for the Habitat for Humanity effort in the Woodlands came from the Milwaukee housing trust fund. If Waukesha County had a housing trust fund, partial funding could be made available to similar workforce housing developments. Third, the idea that workforce housing cannot be integrated into higher cost housing locations must be eliminated. Certainly the home owners around the Woodlands approve of a reduction in illegal activities.

I agree that Waukesha is not Milwaukee, and affordable, workforce housing in the county will be developed differently than in Milwaukee, but the affordability must be addressed today, and the creation of a housing trust fund is certainly a fine place to start.

TID Funding for Housing

Back in June, I blogged on a new item in the Wisconsin budget legislation that would provide authority for communities to extend the life of Tax Incremental Financing Districts by an additional year for housing. I think of a TID this way: it's a loan against the future value of a district, with the loan being used to make improvements that will revitalize the district & create better tax-producing parcels.

Once a municipality decides to do this, the council has to pass a legislation authorizing this, describing how the money would be used for housing. At least 75% has to be used for affordable housing, with the remaining money used to improve the housing stock (such as lead paint removal).

According to a 2008 Public Policy Forum brief on TIDs, Waukesha County has 27 districts in 14 communities as of 2007, valued at approximately $1.5 million. An updated report (this morning!) with a list of communities and their TIDs can be found at the Department of Revenue.

Think about it. Whatever those communities currently pay out annually toward the cost of the TID could be used for housing for a year! Think of how many detoriating homes could be rehabbed with that money, how many homes Habitat for Humanity or Rebuilding Together could work on, how many homes could have lead paint safely removed!

Communities have lived without the tax increments from the increased value of the districts for years-maybe even two decades, so don't tell me they can't go one more year without that money. This is a great resource for communities clever enough to take advantage of it.

Westchester Desegregation Pact

Westchester County, a wealthy suburb in the New York metropolitian area, has been fighting a court case alleging that they discriminated against minorities by not "affirmatively furthering fair housing." In other words, they accepted federal funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) which carries with it an obligation to desegregate and the Anti-Discrimination Center sued, stating that Westchester County has not been meeting their obligation.

A federal judge agreed.

Westchester County agreed to a settlement in which they "will have to pay more than $60 million, develop at least 750 housing units in the most residentially segregated white municipalities in the County, and institute meaningful housing de‐segregation policies."

This has implications for highly segregated communities around the country that have accepted federal funds through HUD and have done little to affirmatively further fair housing.

Wisconsin Housing Conferences

Last week I attended two housing conferences in Madison-the Homelessness Conference and the A Home for Everyone Conference and both conferences were a success. Below are some pictures.




Above: Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton welcoming people to the A Home For Everyone Conference.


Above: Department of Commerce's Division of Housing & Community Development Director Marty Evanson speaks to the audience.

Herman Boone, the coach played by Denzel Washington in Remember the Titans, was the closing plenary speaker.

Milwaukee HUD Annual Report

Hello all;

If you're like me, you probably know in general what HUD does, maybe even know what many, or most of their programs do. But you may not realize the scope of their services & programs. Now you can.

WHEDA Dividends Plan Hearing

WHEDA is holding public hearings to give people an opportunity to comment on the 2010 Dividends Plan. The hearings will be held at:

DATE: Monday, July 27
TIME: 10:00 a.m.
LOCATION: WHEDA Suite 700
201 West Washington Avenue
Madison

DATE: Tuesday, July 28
TIME: 10:00 a.m.
LOCATION: Green Bay City Hall
Room 400
100 N. Jefferson
Green Bay

DATE: Tuesday, July 28
TIME: 10:00 a.m.
LOCATION: WHEDA, Suite 200
140 South 1st Street
Milwaukee

Below is a background summary of the Dividends Plan. At this time, they do not yet know the size of the unrestricted reserve fund, but anticipate it being smaller than previous years. Please take advantage of this opportunity to provide feedback to WHEDA on what the priorities should be.

WHEDA ANNUAL DIVIDENDS PLAN

WHEDA was established by the Wisconsin Legislature in 1972 to help meet the housing needs of Wisconsin's low and moderate income citizens. In the early 1980s, WHEDA's statutes were expanded to include financing for farmers and economic development projects.

WHEDA finances most of its programs through the sale of federally tax-exempt bonds. Working through participating lenders and sponsors, WHEDA provides low-cost financing, federal tax credits and loan guarantees for housing and business development. WHEDA also uses a portion of its earnings to make grants to support special needs housing for persons-in-crisis.

WHEDA receives no state tax dollars for its bond-supported programs. Its income is derived from interest on loans and investments, and from loan origination and service fees.

Annually, as required by statutes, WHEDA develops a plan for the use of its unrestricted reserve funds.

This Dividends Plan is developed based on three priorities. The first priority is bonded program support. WHEDA’s most important tool to successfully fulfill its affordable housing mission is low cost financing provided by federally tax exempt mortgage revenue bonds. WHEDA satisfies rating agency requirements by making contributions to new bond issues. The bonds that we issue make the financing available to home buyers and multifamily housing developments
more affordable.

The second priority is special initiatives. The WHEDA Foundation Grant Program provides needed assistance to Wisconsin housing organizations for the creation and/or improvement of special needs housing. WHEDA also provides loans to elderly homeowners through the Property Tax Deferral Loan Program.

The third priority is new initiatives. WHEDA is exploring new and innovative initiatives that may be developed using unencumbered general reserve funds, as dictated by the size of the plan each year. Past programs have included the Easy Close closing cost assistance program, manufactured housing design for persons with disabilities, business development interest rate subsidies for women and minorities, and others.

Brookfield's Comprehensive/Master Plan-Participation Opportunity

The City of Brookfield is working on their Comprehensive/Master Plan for the city's future, projecting the community's needs until 2035.

Below, I am pasting an e-mail sent out by one of the consultants. If you live in Brookfield, I urge you to take advantage of the opportunity to provide feedback. In particular, look to the housing elements-such as affordability.
---------------------

Greetings:

The City is updating its comprehensive/master plan to guide the future growth of Brookfield. Based on an inspiring vision for the year 2035 prepared last year, the City has turned its attention towards preparing and prioritizing detailed implementation strategies for carrying out its 2035 Vision Preliminary strategies for Brookfield's future focus, for example, on what actions might be taken to advance sustainability, preserve neighborhoods, invite a new generation of families, and capitalize on new economic opportunities.

City officials and consultants need your input on these and other potential strategies to realize the 2035 Vision. To review preliminary strategies and provide input:

• Drop-in on July 18th anytime from 9:00 a.m. to noon at the Brookfield Farmer's Market at City Hall
• Stop by on August 5th from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p. m. at the Public Safety Building Fire Department Bays, as part of Brookfield's National Night Out
• Visit most any time between July 18th and August 5th at Brookfield Square Mall (in center court), the Brookfield Public Library, and on the City's website at www.ci.brookfield.wi.us

For additional information about the Comprehensive Plan and how you can participate, please contact the Community Development Department at (262) 796-6695 or development@ci.brookfield.wi.us. Information about the Comprehensive Plan is also available online at www.ci.brookfield.wi.us. Look for the 2035 Comprehensive Plan link on the homepage.

Thank you for your interest in Brookfield's future!

Jessica Schmiedicke, AICP

Associate Planner

Growth Management Team

Vandewalle & Associates Inc.

Shaping places, shaping change

Madison Milwaukee

608.255.3988

www.vandewalle.com

Cost & Benefits of Lead Control

A recent study published in the Environmental Health Perspectives shows the costs and benefits of lead control, typically done through lead paint hazard control. The effects of lead paint on young children can be severe, leading to problems with health and behavior which, unfortunately, can lead to problems with crime. You can find the sad history of lead paint here.

In the study, it calculates that the conservative estimate of benefit from lead reduction would be approximately $192.38 billion with the total cost being $11.02 billion with the net benefit being $181.37 billion. That's a ratio of 1-17; every $1 spent brings $17 in benefits eventually through reduced costs. The optimistic estimate has a net benefit of $269.23 billion with a ratio of 1-221!!! Now, I'm no financial wizard, but even I can tell that a return of 221 is a good investment! This seems like a no-brainer-spend money on lead paint control now, save money on health, educational & crime later.

Unfortunately, the way our system is set up, we don't see school systems, health care providers and potential future crime victims paying for lead paint removal. Instead, much of the lead control is done through underfunded government programs.

A new way for communities to increase dollars toward lead control is to use the recent inclusion of the Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) extension authority in the state budget. This now allows communities to use an additional year of TIF toward housing (including lead control).

Waukesha Habitat for Humanity Store Closure

I just discovered today that the HomeStore run by the Waukesha Habitat for Humanity has closed. Furthmore, they no longer have a paid Executive Director, and are searching for a volunteer Director.

It's unfortunate they couldn't keep the store open, and I wish them the best of luck in finding a volunteer director that can lead the organization in their future building projects. If you are interested, or know of someone who would be, call the Waukesha Habitat at (262) 309-6025.

Silver Housing Lining in Budget

There are two provisions in the Wisconsin 2009-11 budget that I'd like to discuss. Those provisions benefit affordable housing and provides a tool that will be very helpful to communities.

The first item is a provision to extend the life of a Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) District by a year with the extra year of funding going to affordable housing in the community. This was initiated by the Milwaukee Housing Trust Fund advocates, and inserted into the Senate's version of the budget by Senator Coggs.

The second, the result of efforts of many advocates and legislators over the past few years, would "fix" the property tax exemption for "benevolent" housing. I won't go into the details, but there were two issues at stake here-the "rent use" by the housing provider (how the rent revenue can be used and still qualify for the "benevolent" exemption), and the fact that many municipalities felt that some senior housing providers were abusing the exemption with "affluent" housing for older adults. This was in the joint finance version of the budget, removed from the Assembly's version by the Democratic Caucus, modified in the Senate version, and the recounciled version was closer to the Senate's version.

Both were not vetoed by the Governor, and are now law.

This is very significant because it allows low-income housing providers to continue to provide housing without being slapped with a tax bill they never budgeted for which would drive many out of business.

The TIF District gives communities a powerful tool to raise revenue (however erratic) for affordable housing and to improve housing stock. A community can use at least 75 percent toward affordable housing, and the remainder to improve housing stock. This could be an ideal revenue source for a housing trust fund.

Record Number of Housing Discrimination Filed in 2008

Wow. Nationally, 10,552 complaints, 44% on basis of disability and 35% on basis of race.

The sad thing is, despite how many complaints were filed, it's still nowhere near the actual number of discrimination that happens. Very often discrimination is more subtle than the old days when landlords could openly advertise for "Whites Only" or "Protestants Only" or refuse to rent to single mothers, etc.

Today's discrimination are more in the vein of "sorry, we rented it already" or even simply encouraging favored applicants while subtly discouraging other applicants by not giving them the same information or downplaying the unit. Discrimination even may be unconscious with the landlord being unaware that he/she is doing it. Discrimination can also be structural with housing being built that does not have the required accessibility under Fair Housing.

To their credit, Waukesha County CDBG has given the Metropolitian Milwaukee Fair Housing Council funding to investigate possible discrimination in Waukesha County.

To find out more about Fair Housing rights, check out HUD.

Affordable housing is possible

We're about to embark upon an exciting phase in our campaign this month as we continue training advocates and gear up for some full-bore advocacy action.

But before we get around to doing all that exciting stuff (you can get in on that fun, too; just contact us for our meeting schedule!), we want to talk a bit about some press we received recently that might discourage a less determined group. An article in the Daily Reporter on April 21 was titled, "Budget gaps leave affordable housing in hole." The Daily Reporter is a news source for construction industry professionals, such as contractors and architects.

The article makes the idea of a housing trust fund sound financially ludicrous, which it is not. There are over 550 city, county, and state housing trust funds in existence nationwide. Housing trust funds at the county level around the country have used at least 20 different sources of funding, according to the Center for Community Change. Reporter Sean Ryan lists three possibilities for funding, but did not list the other two sources given as examples in our original proposal--sale of county-owned land and county investment income. (And a recent revision to our proposal does not list property taxes as a possible source of revenue, but rather a slight increase in the real estate transfer fee paid during the sale of a house).

When there's political will, there's always a way. After all, how did Waukesha County come up with money for a new highway bypass ($8.6 million) and a new interchange for Pabst Farms ($1.75 million)? Keep in mind those dollar amounts are just the County contributions; state and city contributions paid for the rest. And let's not even go into all the expenses of water diversions.

Although the Daily Reporter article seems to attempt to create an adversarial relationship between county officials and the task force, we are committed to working with the county executive and the county board to identify funding sources that would work. Because of the economic benefits of a housing trust fund, the County might not be able to afford not having one. But that's a different blog post ... so stay tuned!

-Betsy Foss-Campbell and Brian Peters contributed to this post.

Why Visitability is included

One of the things in the proposal for a Waukesha County Housing Trust Fund is the requirement for Visitability in new single-family homes funded by the Trust Fund. Visitability is the idea that people with mobility disabilities should be able to visit their families, friends, and neighbors. Too often people with disabilities are isolated from the community even if their own home is fully accessible-they cannot visit their family, friends, and neighbors. They cannot go to dinners, parties, picnics, or even simply to hang out and play games.

Visitability is surprisingly basic and inexpensive to do-a way to get in, a way to travel around on the main floor, and a way to use the bathroom. So that's simply one zero-step entrance with path of travel exterior and interior with hallways and doorways wide enough for a wheelchair and an usable half-bathroom.

A good site for Visitability information is Concrete Change and AARP has written a paper on it.

You can also watch a video of a motivational speaker, "The Strength Coach," discussing Visitability.

Making Home Affordable

Ran across this in the latest issue of HudUser's Research Works. In addition to learning that storm windows can make a difference in the energy a home uses and can be a low-cost alternative when new windows are too expensive, I found a website where people can find out if they qualify for loan modification and home refinancing.

People who may be struggling with their mortgage payments can go to Making Home Affordable for a self-assessment to see if they would qualify. The website links to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's websites to check to see if your current mortgage is insured by either companies, and if you qualify, it tells you what information you will need to bring to a housing counselor or your loan servicer. In Waukesha County, the housing counselor to contact is hbc Services, Inc.

Update: Corrected to reflect the mortgage is insured not owned.

How big MUST your home be?

A way that many communities try to increase their tax base is to deliberately target a higher-income population, and often a way to do this is to increase the minimum lot size required for a home, or other zoning and ordinance tricks to weed out lower-income populations. The problem, of course, is those communities end up segregating themselves economically and becoming more and more difficult for their young people to remain in the community as first-time homebuyers.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has examined this and other regulatory issues for years in their Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse (unsurprisingly, Waukesha was one of the examples they cited).

The May 2009 issue of Breakthroughs examines how developers are scaling back for affordability.

"According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in the past 20 years the median sized single-family home increased 617 square feet, while household size has steadily decreased since the 1940s."A developer, KB Home (one of nation's largest homebuilders) has created a two-bedroom home starting at 880 sq ft. Consider that City of Pewaukee's ordinance requires a minimum first-floor area of 1,200 sq ft for new homes. For homes of four or more bedrooms, the minimum total sq ft is 1,700. Can a scaled-back home by KB Home be built in Pewaukee? Or another Waukesha County community?

"KB chief Jeffrey Mezger says the mini-houses are a return to his industry's roots in post-World War II communities such as Levittown, N.Y., where 800 square feet was a typical home size. "Any time there's been an age of exuberance and then the economy turns," he says, "people get back to 'What do I need?' rather than 'What could I buy?'"

The Metropolitian Builders Association is already very concerned about the impact of zoning requirements, and in their Regional Housing Strategy, one of the recommendations is to "allow for housing with a minimum of 1,100 square feet and lot sizes at ¼ of an acre. " That wouldn't even allow KB Home or any other builders with a line of scaled-back homes to build some of their homes under those guidelines, but definitely a step in the right direction.

The proposal by the Waukesha County Affordable Housing Task Force for a Housing Trust Fund does not include any zoning changes or requirements. However, a Housing Trust Fund will not be, and cannot be, the whole answer to affordable housing in any community. Communities must re-evaluate their zoning ordinances, especially if they want their children to be able to buy homes in the community they grew up in. A recognition of those difficult economic times and the demand for affordable homes couldn't hurt, either.

In Defense of Rental Housing

One of my pet peeves has been the disproportionate focus on homeownership, both as a matter of federal policy (HUD's emphasis on homeownership, the number of homebuyer counseling agencies vs rental counseling agencies), and as a matter of local policy in the form of City of Waukesha's examination of the proportion of housing and deciding that they'd prefer a higher proportion of homeowners. The City of Waukesha is far from being alone in that.

The President of the National Multi-Housing Council did a stirring presentation to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors on April 28, 2009 on the need for rental housing. The presentation can be found here and the presentation plus the speech transcript can be found here .

The presentation makes four key points:

• America wants rental housing.


• America needs rental housing.


• Renters—be they affordable renters or lifestyle renters—are not second-class citizens.


• There is a growing disconnect between America's housing needs and its current housing policy.

This is something that suburban communities such as those in Metro Milwaukee area would be well-served to remember-that growth in the future includes a good range of rental housing options.

Why I Support a Waukesha Housing Trust Fund

Second in a continuing series of "interviews" of our endorsers, boosters, and volunteers. Next up is Becky Steffes, one of our hard-working volunteers who has done a tremendous amount of research on the various ways to fund our proposal.

I am involved with the Creating Communities Campaign because creating adequate affordable housing is not just a political nor an economic issue; it is a moral issue. A community which welcomes diversity of housing is one which embraces and protects all of its citizens. And I believe that it is in only by building such inclusive communities that Martin Luther King’s ‘arc of the moral universe’ will truly bend toward justice.

SEWRPC Housing Plan Website

The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission has set up a page on their website for their new Regional Housing Plan. I urge you to go to this website and take a few moments to explore it. Be sure to check out the newsletter, the housing plan study details, and the public meetings.

The Waukesha meeting will be on June 3, 2009 (4:30-6:30) at the Waukesha Rotary Building, Frame Park at 1150 Baxter Street, Waukesha. Of course, you can go to the Milwaukee County meetings or one of the other counties' meetings if the location and/or scheduling fits your needs better.

It's important that SEWRPC has input from the community regarding the housing study. So take out your calendar and scribble or type in the date & location.

UPDATE: Link fixed & time added (missing from original announcement).

Campaign forges on for a housing trust fund

Last night about 60 people came to St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Waukesha for our second quarterly evening event, Creating Communities: Affordable Housing Now and When. Those attending were members of non-profit and faith organizations, developers, local government officials and staff, and a columnist from the Journal Sentinel. The event focused on how a housing trust fund could help current affordable housing efforts in Waukesha County.

"Land, land, land," said Ted Romberg in response to the question of what the biggest challenge is when working to provide affordable housing in the area. Ted is the president of the Community Land Development Association, a land trust in Waukesha County. Funding organizations typically require the land trust to apply for funds for a specific piece of land. But when the association finds the rarity of an affordable piece of land in the area, that land is usually sold by the time the group obtains funding to purchase it. A housing trust fund could provide funding to the land trust in advance, to help solve that problem.

David Weiss, the CEO for General Capitol Group, explained it's difficult to develop affordable senior housing projects because there is typically not enough federal funding, leaving a funding gap. A county housing trust fund could provide the gap funding needed to make more of these projects happen. And every dollar the county commits to a housing trust fund leverages $10-20 of other funding coming into the county to provide economic development in the county.

Bill Perkins, executive director of the Wisconsin Partnership for Housing Development, and Bernie Juno, executive director of the Hebron House of Hospitalty, Inc., agreed that a housing trust fund could help to increase the affordable housing their programs provide. Bernie said, "It's critical that we have this housing trust fund established, critical."

The Excitement Builds...

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel columnist Laurel Walker wrote about the Waukesha effort in today's column!

I appreciated this part, which we don't hear enough (or ever!):

So the task force has a mountain to climb. But for their cause and their vision, participants in the Waukesha County Affordable Housing Task Force deserve thanks and encouragement.

Why Waukesha County Needs a Housing Trust Fund

Read the press release for tomorrow night's event here. Then register to attend at heatherdc@interfaithconference.org! Hope to see you all there!

Event Speakers

The Waukesha County Affordable Housing Task Force event this Wednesday will host four panelists on the discussion of current affordable housing efforts in Waukesha: David Weiss, Bernie Juno, William Perkins, and Rev. Ted Romberg.

David Weiss is the CEO of general Capital Group, a private real estate development company in the Milwaukee metro area, began his career with Citibank in New York. David joined Citicorp Real Estate in Chicago in 1993. In 1997 David was a founding partner of General Capitol Group.

Bernie Juno is the founder and executive director of the Hebron House of Hospitality, Inc., a provider of emergency housing and related services in Waukesha. She is a member of the State Interagency Council on Homelessness that helped develop the Ten-Year Plan for Wisconsin on Ending Homelessness.

William Perkins is the executive director of the Wisconsin Partnership for Housing Development, a private nonprofit affordable housing corporation. Bill founded the Wisconsin Partnership for Housing Development in 1985. Bill directed work on local housing and neighborhoos partnerships in Wisconsin and other states. This corporation has offices in Milwaukee and Madison.

Rev. Ted Romberg is president of the Community Land Development Association, a land trust in Waukesha County. Rev. Ted Romberg served 21 years as lead pastor at Ascension Lutheran Church in Waukesha. He retired in 2004 and is working on the land trust in Waukesha.

Remember that the event will be held at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Waukesha this Wednesday from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. The panel will discuss what more could be done in Waukesha County with a Housing Trust Fund. If you are planning to attend, and have not RSVP'd, please do so to heatherdc@interfaithconference.org or 414 276 9050.

April 22 Event Reminder

From Heather Dummer Combs...
---

Are you planning to attend the Waukesha County Affordable Housing Task Force's event next week? Have you pre-registered? Have you passed the information on to others? Now's the time to do so!

The Waukesha County Affordable Housing Task Force is working to establish a Waukesha County Housing Trust Fund as a way to support and encourage the development of workforce and affordable housing. Next week's event is a great way to learn a bit about what local affordable housing efforts are underway, what is a housing trust fund and how such a fund could support the development of affordable or workforce housing in Waukesha County.

Creating Communities: Affordable Housing Now and When...
Wednesday, April 22 from 5:30 to 7:00pm
St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Waukesha
http://www.stlukeslutheran.org/
Panel discussion on current affordable housing efforts and what more could be done in Waukesha County with a Housing Trust Fund.
If you are planning to attend and have not RSVPed, please do so.
heatherdc@interfaithconference.org or 414 414-276 276-9050.

Why I support a Waukesha Housing Trust Fund

Welcome to a new series of posts that we are starting here at the Creating Communities Campaign blog. We will be asking our supporters and endorsers why they support the Waukesha County Affordable Housing Task Force and the efforts to create a Housing Trust Fund in Waukesha County.

First up is Donald Johnson, Chair of the Workforce Housing Task Force for SOPHIA. First, a short description of SOPHIA, which is a coalition of faith communities and a member of WISDOM at the state level.

SOPHIA is dedicated to dialog with public and private persons, agencies and office holders to stimulate creative and effective efforts to improve our community, solve its problems and address both universal and particular needs in our increasingly fragmented world. We join hands with others to bring effective change rather than isolated self interest.

Mr. Johnson tells us (my bolds):

There have been at least three (3) "equal', "open", or "fair" housing bills passed since the 50's in this great country of ours. Why it takes so much legislation to insure a simple human right says something about how difficult it is to change peoples attitudes about certain things we've accepted in our society. I was always taught that the "truth'' was still true even if a falsehood was practiced.

I have been affected by or participated in civil rights since I was a young boy in the 1960's. Social justice, in many ways, has become a part of my American heritage. Housing has always been a basic part of "freedom" to me. If you live in my country, America, you should be "equally" free to go anywhere, work anywhere, and live anywhere. I became actively involved with SOPHIA, a part of WISDOM about a year ago. This social issues group practices the use of organized "money" and organized "people" to cause positive change in our community. I am the chairperson for our Workforce Housing Task Force. We endorse and support the efforts of Waukesha County Affordable Housing Task Force to establish a "housing trust fund". Housing for Waukesha county's workforce is "affordable" housing. We believe "if you're good enough to work here, you're good enough to live here". This concept needs to be "accepted" in our society today.

Don Johnson - SOPHIA, Workforce Housing Task Force
http://www.sophiawaukesha.org/

Here we see for Mr. Johnson, representing SOPHIA, that affordable housing is a moral issue, of equality. I seem to remember something in the Declaration of Independence about that.

Out of Reach

And speaking of housing-related studies being released, the National Low-Income Housing Coalition is releasing their annual Out of Reach report on April 14th. From last year's report:

Despite the emphasis on homeownership and the marginalization of renters, renter households still make up fully one-third of the households in the United States — more than 36 million households. Out of Reach is a side-by-side comparison of wages and rents in every county, Metropolitan Area (MSAs/HMFAs), combined onmetropolitan area and state in the United States.

You can access the report on their site, and keep an eye on the website for the soon-to-be released 2009 report.

NLIHC also produces an excellent Advocates' Guide and again, keep an eye on their website for the newest 2009 edition of the Guide, which I am bravely predicting will be found here when released on or soon after April 15th.

Priced Out in 2008

The Technical Assistance Collaborative works in collaboration with the Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities Housing Taskforce to produce the Priced Out series of reports which are published every two years, with the latest one in 2006.

The study compares the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments of people with serious and long-term disabilities to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Fair Market Rents for modestly priced rental units.

The next one will be released April 13th here, but until then, the link won't work.
But here's a sneak peek from their press release.

Across the United States in 2008, people with disabilities with the lowest incomes faced an extreme housing affordability crisis as rents for moderately priced studio and one-bedroom apartments soared above their entire monthly income. The national average rent for a one-bedroom unit climbed to $749 per month and the studio/efficiency unit rent to $663 per month in 2008 – both higher than $667, the average monthly income of over 4 million people with disabilities....

Perhaps the most shocking revelation in Priced Out in 2008 is the precipitous and relentless decline in housing affordability for SSI recipients since 1998 when the first edition of Priced Out was developed. The amount of monthly SSI income needed to rent a modest one-bedroom unit has risen an astonishing 62 percent from 69 percent of SSI in 1998 to 112.1 percent of SSI in 2008.

Be sure to return here on April 13th to check it out at this link!

Former YWCA Site Targeted For Affordable Housing

On Tuesday, March 31, 2009, the Waukesha Freeman carried a front page story entitled "Former YWCA site to be redeveloped." I would provide a link to the article, except the Freeman chooses to restrict online viewing of its recent news reports to only those who subscribe to the print edition. Because of that restriction, let me quote a few items in the article.

" Eleven to 16 owner-occupied, work force housing units may be built on the site. Waukesha Community Development Director Steve Crandell said work force housing consists of housing stock from $150,000 and $200,000. He said a portion of the homes will be work force housing."

Note that while the article seems to focus on "affordable" and "workforce" housing, the paragraph above says "may be built" and "a portion of the homes". I wonder how many of the 11 - 16 sites will be affordable housing.

"Crandell said the former YWCA property will be plotted and then requests for proposals will be sent to developers for the project. The Waukesha Redevelopment Authority, Waukesha Plan Commission and the city’s common council will review the plans."

I wonder again which developers will get the RFPs. Will Habitat for Humanity be considered as a developer? Will the Waukesha Community Land Development Association trust fund be permitted to aquire the land prior to development so that the units will be affordable in the future? What criteria will be used to review the plans?

On the surface, redevelopment of the YWCA site into workforce housing seems exciting and necessary in Waukesha. However, as always, the devil is in the details. As reported, there are still many questions to be answered.

Legislative Hearing on AB109

AB 109, an Assembly bill that would enable municipalities to extend the life of the Tax Incremental Districts by an additional year to finance housing, has an hearing on April 15th. You can see a list of Committee members here. If one of those fine folks is your Representative, please contact him/her to urge support of this bill. If passed, this could potentially be a source of funding of housing in Waukesha County communities, although not necessarily for a Waukesha County Housing Trust Fund.

Assembly Bill 109 has been scheduled for a public hearing by Committee on Housing in the Assembly.

Date/time: April 15, 2009 at 1:00 PM.

Location: Dept. of Natural Resources Building, 2300 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Room 140 and 141, Milwaukee, WI 53212.

Bill History: http://www.legis. state.wi. us/2009/data/ AB109hst. html

Relating to: authorizing a city or village to extend
the life of a tax incremental district for one ...

More details on the April 22 event!

Here are some more details on the Creating Communities Campaign. The next event is scheduled for Wednesday, April 22 from 5:30 to 7:00pm at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Waukesha.

There will be a panel discussion on current affordable housing efforts and what more could be done in Waukesha County with a Housing Trust Fund.Panelists include:

• Bernie Juno, Executive Director, Hebron House of Hospitality
• Bill Perkins, Executive Director, WI Partnership for Housing Development
• Ted Romberg, President, Community Land Development Association
• David Weiss, CEO, General Capital Group

This should be a fun discussion! Be there!

Pre-register with Heather Dummer Combs at heatherdc@interfaithconference.org or 414 276-9050. Also contact her if you have any disability-related accommodation requests.

Mention in Journal-Sentinel

The Waukesha County Affordable Housing Taskforce is making waves, and people are starting to notice! We were mentioned in the Sunday edition of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel! It is a thoughtful article about the disparity of employment and housing in the suburbs, so go take a look!

On the flip side of the coin, there's Dan Miller from the Heartland Institute in Chicago decrying Smart Growth (interesting, isn't it, how an editorial about affordable housing devolves into guns misfiring at Smart Growth?). Leaving aside our opinions on Smart Growth, the article contains some misleading "facts" that I immediately spotted. Check it out here and post your comments!

UPDATE: Links fixed!

What The....?!?

Guess what Wisconsin suburb was chosen as the best affordable suburb in America? After winnowing down hundreds, if not thousands of suburbs, the wise folks at Business Week chose....

Pewaukee.

Yes, Pewaukee. Look, Pewaukee's a pretty place, wouldn't mind spending a weekend or two there, but... affordable?!? From the Business Week article-
Median home price: $267,500. Obviously we have differing opinions on what affordable is.

To be fair, they don't look purely at housing costs-they have a number of other factors, hence the "best" adjective.

Here's part of the criteria that was used:

Editor's note: The selected suburbs were limited to towns within 25 miles of the most populated city, with populations of 5,000 to 60,000 people, median family incomes of $51,000 to $120,000, and lower-than-average crime rates. We weighted a variety of factors including livability (short commutes, low pollution, green space), education (well-educated residents, high test scores), crime (low personal and property crime), economy (high job growth, low unemployment rate, high family income), and affordability (median household income, cost of expenditures). Affordability was most heavily weighted in our calculations. We penalized places with bad weather, a lack of racial diversity, high divorce rates, and few children.

Let's take a moment to review. "We penalized places with...a lack of racial diversity...." Pewaukee is a city that is 97.2% white, compared with 75.1% for the United States, or even 88.9% for Wisconsin. Obviously it was not a stiff penalty. And note that they look at affordability purely in terms of the household income of residents vs their expenses, not the cost of housing vs the income of the broader community.

Please don't misunderstand me-I'm not knocking Pewaukee as a place to live, but knocking BusinessWeek for poor use of statistics. As we used to say in my high-school computer class, GIGO. That's "Garbage In, Garbage Out."

Can you afford your housing costs?

Did you know that the median sales price of a house in Waukesha County is nearly $250,000, even with recently declining home values? The most recent median sales price listed on RealtyTrac, for May 2008, is $246,949. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development defines housing affordability as paying less than 30 percent of income on housing costs. So to afford even a "modest" house selling for $200,000, a household needs to make over $73,000.

And the Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $795. To afford that, a household needs to make at least $15.29 per hour, but the estimated average wage for a renter in Waukesha County is only $13.31 per hour.

We've met people who are struggling to afford their housing costs, or settling for less space than they need, or further from their jobs than they'd like. Visit our website to hear the voices of these people.

What is a housing trust fund?

A housing trust fund (HTF) is a fund that a city, county, or state creates to support affordable housing development. HTF funding reduces building costs, so that developers are able to charge less to sell or rent housing. Those who receive funding agree to keep prices affordable for lower income households for a certain length of time.

Housing trust funds have become a common way to support the development of affordable homes. There are over 550 housing trust funds nationally. You can find out more about HTFs at our web page and at http://communitychange.org/our-projects/htf. Or post a question if you have one, and we'll reply.

Welcome or Welcome Back

For those new to the site and as a reminder to the regulars, this blog is a way for supporters to connect around the issue of a housing trust fund in Waukesha County. The Creating Communities Campaign is an advocacy campaign of the Waukesha County Affordable Housing Task Force, which includes members of faith communities, affordable housing advocates, and members of the business community.

We're advocating for the establishment of a housing trust fund at the county level to address the lack of affordable housing. The campaign name reflects our belief that increasing affordable housing will create true communities of people from various walks of life, living and working together in those communities.

So welcome, or welcome back! Read some posts to find out more about the campaign, post comments, ask questions in the comment areas, sign up to be a follower to show your support. This is the place to shape the campaign, to go back to the drawing board if things aren't working, and to get excited about our successes at making our communities better places to live!

Best Practices in Low-Income Tax Credit Housing

I ran across this a while ago, and finally got around to posting this. This is a report on Best Practices in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). Building Opportunity: Civil Rights Best Practices in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program-An Updated Fifty-State Review of LIHTC "Qualified Allocation Plans" is an interesting report on what states can do to affirmatively further fair housing using the LIHTC program.

Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA)'s Qualified Allocation Plan can be found here. Does it employ best practices? On the contrary, just about the only mention of Wisconsin is criticism (along with other states) on "incentivizing community support". Advocates here in Wisconsin have criticized WHEDA for this part of the QAP, which can lead to a lack of affordable housing being built in hostile communities. That is not to say that Wisconsin's QAP is poor-there are many parts I like in the QAP, but the community support scoring, alas, is not one of them.

There is no reason why a Housing Trust Fund could not adopt some of the best practice strategies in this study. Furthermore, to counteract a possible lack of community support in certain municipalities, HTF commitment could be used to increase community support scoring in a local development's application for tax credits.

Future Meetings

The schedule for future meetings of the Waukesha County Affordable Housing Task Force:

Task Force: March 4, 10 AM-11:30 AM at St. John's Lutheran, 20275 Davidson Road, Brookfield.

Public Outreach Committee: March 10, 10 AM-11:30 AM at St. Anthony on the Lake, W280 N2101 Hwy. SS., Pewaukee

Quarterly Evening Event/Activity-April 22, Time & Location TBA; SAVE THE DATE!

Advocacy Training Rescheduled for Feb. 11

The Advocacy Training that was scheduled in January is rescheduled to Wed., Feb. 11, because of a scheduling conflict for our speaker. It will still be at 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Waukesha. Please join us in learning how to advocate for a housing trust fund in Waukesha County! If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Heather Dummer Combs, at heatherdc@interfaithconference.org.

January Creating Community Campaign Events

Two big events are coming up that you can participate in to work toward increasing affordable housing in Waukesha County. The first event is Advocacy Training on Wed., Jan. 21 at 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Waukesha. Vicky Selkowe, Mobilization Strategies Manager for the Wisconsin Council for Children and Families in Madison, will lead the training. At this educational session, you will learn more about how to advocate for a housing trust fund in the county with the Affordable Housing Task Force. St. Luke's is located at 300 Carroll St., next to the Waukesha Public Library.

The other event, our monthly action for January, is to attend the Waukesha County Park and Planning Commission Meeting on Thurs., Jan. 22 at 1:00 p.m. in Room 255 of the Administration Center of the Waukesha County Courthouse. This meeting is a follow-up on the county's Comprehensive Development Plan, which insufficiently addresses how the county will create more affordable housing over the next 25 years. Come to hold up a sign that we will provide to encourage the commission to strengthen its plans for affordable housing development.

If you plan to attend either event, please RSVP to Heather Dummer Combs,in order to plan for the number of people attending.