Monday, February 28, 2011

Not Just Milwaukee

This article focuses on Milwaukee agencies, but the impact will be felt statewide.  Many agencies are concerned because it's looking like they'll either get some cuts under Obama's budget, or even more drastic cuts under the House Republican's budget.  Democrats in Senate have not announced their budget yet.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Federal Budget Look

With all the focus on the state budget repair bill, it’s easy to forget that the federal budget process is happening for the remainder of 2011 and 2012. I thought the following two links might be an entertaining way to educate yourself on the federal 2012 budget.


Here is a  NY Times article showing the President’s budget and the spending planned. What’s interesting to me is when you click “hide mandatory spending” and how little of the budget is left.

This non-partisan but progressive organization, Center for American Progress,  has put together a neat interactive tool.  Their challenge:  since the Republicans have stated they plan to cut $100 billion from the budget, the Center is challenging you to try and do the same.

Furthermore, they said they would do so without touching entitlements, defense spending, or veterans’ services. This portion of the budget, known as “non-security discretionary spending,” makes up less than 15 percent of the federal budget.

$100 billion from less than 15% of the budget.  Go take the challenge!

Done?  The House passed their version of the 2012 budget.  They could only manage $61 billion in spending cuts.  I haven't seen a full outline of the House budget yet.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Downtown Waukesha Master Plan Listening Session

The City of Waukesha is holding a listening session on the downtown master plan that is being developed.  It will be held 5PM-7PM Wednesday (2-25-11) at the Rotunda at 235 W Broadway.

If you are a City of Waukesha resident, I encourage you to go and consider discussing:
  • The need for accessibility improvements around downtown area.  Are there parking spots designated accessible scattered around the downtown? Do on-street parking have ease of access to sidewalks?
  • The need for more housing density, with mixed-use housing where appropriate.
  • The need for affordable housing
  • The need for good (and accessible) bus stops
  • The need for good linkages to surrounding neighborhoods.  Ease of pedestrian access would encourage surrounding neighborhoods to visit downtown on foot more often
  • Discussion on bicycle paths & "parking".  My recollection of downtown Waukesha is that it's not ideal for bicycle paths on the streets, so discuss bicycle access to downtown & where people can lock up their bicycles while shopping or dining.
What help downtown areas are frequently density and walkability, and in recent years, there have been some apartment buildings popping up around the area, which is great, but some of those buildings are not designed for the street.  There are entire block lengths of blank walls that are unappealing to pedestrians, so building design has to be a consideration.  But it's not necessary for every building off the main streets to have retail on the ground level.

Assignment: Compare and Contrast

Your assignment:  Read the two articles and discuss the funding priorities revealed in the articles.

Article #1 is from Connecticut on the impact of federal budget decisions on local programs serving homeless veterans.
The Republican-led house of Representatives passed a federal budget cutting, more than 60 billion dollars in spending.
....

What the congressional budget cutters cut was 75 million dollars for the program [Veterans Assisted Support Housing] nationally according to Courtney on the mistaken notion that there is some kind of backlog of unused vouchers around the country.

"It just shows, ya know, what you see on TV down in Washington, can really affect things right at home," says Courtney.

Courtney gave the bad news to the Legion leaders today, but said he hopes that reason will eventually prevail in Washington.

Courtney says this is the kind of short sighted budget cutting that the public doesn't really want.

Article #2 points to the continuing support for military advertising at NASCAR events as well as special tax breaks solely for NASCAR events.  Representative Betty McCollum of Minnesota sponsored an amendment that would've removed this.  It was quickly defeated.
“I have nothing against Nascar,” McCollum said Thursday in a phone interview. “The Defense Department said it didn’t have anything that could be cut. Seven million dollars to sponsor a car and we’re cutting cops, we’re cutting teachers, we’re cutting programs for homeless vets?”

Her argument seemed solid. She pointed out that the Army, the Air Force and the National Guard spend millions of dollars on sponsorship — $100 million over the past 10 years.

McCollum’s amendment sought to prohibit taxpayer funds from being used for sponsorship of racecars, dragsters, Indy cars and motorcycle racing. She also wanted to repeal the $45 million special tax earmark for Nascar and race track owners included in the 2010 law that extended the Bush tax cuts.


What does those two articles say about the priorities of our nation?

Friday, February 18, 2011

As New Berlin Turns

In the continuing soap saga of New Berlin & MSP, MSP is now saying they might sue New Berlin over their opposition to affordable housing.  New Berlin is saying MSP can't develop, either because Deer Creek Homes isn't the same entity anymore (it was dissolved March-October 2010), or because the original development plan had deadlines that were missed.

Incidentally, I hereby retract the nyah, nyah I made on MSP's behalf.  I think New Berlin's hiding behind technicalities, but those might matter.  I don't know the case precedents on this, if any, and that could very well be the deciding factor.

In my opinion, though, MSP has plenty of grounds to sue on other issues, but they're apparently not interested in going down that path yet-they want to build using the tax credits they have, on the land they control.  Pursuing a lawsuit on other grounds could very well chew up time putting their tax credits at risk.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

New Report on Homelessness in Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Department of Commerce's Bureau of Supportive Housing has released a new report on the state of homelessness from 2009-2010.  The 2010 Annual Report on Homelessness in Wisconsin is a five-page summary of the data (Graphs!  Bullet Points!) they've collected on the homeless population in the state and their demographics in 2010 and the changes from 2009.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

MSP & New Berlin

Another update on the continuing saga of MSP & New Berlin. 

Condo owners claim since original developer (Deer Creek) dissolved, MSP has to start all over again.  MSP says Deer Creek didn't dissolve, so nyah, nyah.  Well, they didn't say that latter part, but I would have. 

Not sure condo owners have a leg to stand on-MSP is just following the original approved development plan, even though the ownership may be different than envisioned.  How is this is different than a developer renting out condos they're unable to sell?

And I still believe that they'll be rent-to-own, although MSP has been coy about that when questioned.

Home Makeovers & New Homes

Hate me if you must, but shows like Extreme Home Makeover annoy me because as wonderful as it is for that one family who was lucky enough to be selected for the show's make-over, which can include tearing down the entire home and rebuilding it, what about the other families that also need assistance, even if not so extreme?  Shows like Extreme Home Makeover are, to me, an indication that something isn't working.

Likewise, as heart-warming as this story of an injured veteran receiving an accessible home is, to me, this is an indication that something isn't working.  This is not a slam at Homes for Our Troops as they're meeting a need in the community and doing a wonderful service to our returning injured troops.  However, people should not need a specially built new home to have the accessibility they need.  This indicates a profound & severe lack of even minimally accessible homes.  For every injured veteran that has a home custom-built, how many other injured veterans are not chosen, how many people who suffered a stroke now have an inaccessible home, how many accident victims are there that has to struggle to find a place to live?

If there were more homes built using the principles of Visitability or Universal Design, existing homes can be more easily modified at less expense to fit people's specific needs.  It's not rocket science, and it's not particularly expensive, either, at a basic level.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Read 'em & Weep Continuing Resolution

The House Republicans has released their proposed Continuing Resolution for Fiscal Year 2011 to keep the government running until the 2012 budget can be enacted.  To put it mildly, it's a document that they know perfectly well will be deeply unacceptable to the Democrats in the Senate and President Obama.

As you look at the document, remember that the first column of numbers are as it related to the previous Fiscal Year, 2010, which we are at now as the government is operating on a Continuing Resolution that keeps everything running at the same budget level until a new budget can be approved.  The second column of numbers are the changes as it compares to the proposed 2011 budget, or at least, I assume it's President Obama's request for 2011.  Since we are already well into the Fiscal Year 2011 until March, this means that the cuts in the proposed Continuing Resolution will be even more deeper than they appear, spread over less months than normally.

There are many community and social programs that will see deep cuts, impacting people with low income, people with disabilities, and older adults.

WHEDA's 2011 Applicants

WHEDA has a list of applicants for the 2011 Tax Credit Program.

The three in Waukesha County are:
  • Wilkinson Manor (Majority Elderly) in Oconomowoc by Crown Court Properties
  • Riverview Commons Senior Living (Majority RCAC which is assisted living) in Waukesha by Alliance Housing Development
  • Fox Chase Apartments (Elderly only) in Eagle by Sunstarr Real Estate Ventures

 The question, of course, is if HUD's Worst-Case Housing Needs Report has identified families with children as needing affordable housing significantly more than older adults, why is it that all three of Waukesha County's proposed developments targeted at older adults?
 
Do not think that developers have not learned from what happened in the City of Waukesha, in New Berlin, among others. This is the direct result of opposition in many communities.
 
Elsewhere in the metro area...
 
Milwaukee County has 20 proposed developments, of which 3 are mixed (mixed unit types, I think), 11 are family housing, 5 are "elderly" housing, and one is supportive housing for persons with disabilities, which is a set-aside category in the awarding process.
 
There are no proposed developments in Ozaukee or Washington Counties. 
 
 

GSE Reform & Housing Trust Fund

Wisconsin Partnership for Housing Development Executive Director, Bill Perkins, wrote an editorial for his newsletter, "The Way It Looks To Me" which is a platform that he uses to offer commentary on housing issues. Go take a look-he's always worth reading!  It covers the options for housing finance reform that I discussed briefly the other day. 

At the end, he mentions that the Obama Administration  "... stands behind its commitment to a national housing trust fund."  That contradicts my thought-without seeing the report-that "(t)his pretty much ends the hope that the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund could be fully funded by Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac in the future."

Looking at the report, it states:
Although FHA and other federal affordable housing policies do a great deal to provide access and affordability, we recognize that a more balanced system will require additional resources to address clear gaps. The Administration will thus advocate for a dedicated, budget-neutral financing mechanism to support homeownership and rental housing objectives that current policies cannot adequately address. This funding stream would support the development and preservation of more affordable rental housing for the lowest-income families to address serious supply shortages, similar to the Housing Trust Fund that the President has proposed to be capitalized.
 
While this is encouraging, it disturbs me that there appears to be no actual details on how this funding stream would be created.  This also actually reads to me more like they're proposing something separate from the Housing Trust Fund.  I'm hoping this is just worded badly because what they're describing is exactly what the Housing Trust Fund is supposed to do.  Why not just identify a stream of funds for the Trust Fund itself?

Update:  Ed Gramlich at the National Low-Income Housing Coalition sent me the following (links mine, but FYI, large documents):
Regarding the FY12 Budget proposal, the NHTF IS there at $1B (page 571), and especially important – HUD proposes this to be on the “mandatory” side of the budget…meaning that NHTF does not compete with other HUD programs such as HOME (A separate document “Terminations, Reductions, and Savings” (page 120) implies that NHTF competes with HOME). Secretary Donovan’s verbal remarks made it VERY clear that NHTF is mandatory and does not compete.


Housing Finance Reform Links

I mentioned on Saturday that the Department of Treasury has released three recommendations for housing finance reform, impacting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They've sent out a press release summarizing the report.
“This is a plan for fundamental reform – to wind down the GSEs, strengthen consumer protection, and preserve access to affordable housing for people who need it,” said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. “We are going to start the process of reform now, but we are going to do it responsibly and carefully so that we support the recovery and the process of repair of the housing market.”

The actual report is also on their website. My concern is that it emphasizes the need for strong regulatory oversight.
Going forward, the government’s primary role should be limited to robust oversight and consumer protection....private markets – subject to strong oversight and standards for consumer and investor protection –....In addition to fully implementing the reforms in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”) (Pub. L. 111-203), the Administration will mobilize all tools available to address the nation’s broken system of mortgage servicing and foreclosure processing....

Historically, in any industry, people have opposed regulatory oversight of their businesses.  So some of the reforms and oversights that the Obama Administration is attempting to implement almost certainly will be opposed by lenders and their allies in the Congress (in both parties).  Part of this depends on the successful implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act, which was opposed by the Republicans in Congress, and the funding to implement it is far from certain with the Republicans in control of the House, especially with the deep budget cuts proposed by Representative Paul Ryan.

A source of conflict as the proposals move into the Congress for delibration is almost certainly going to be what was the causes of the housing finance market collapse.  CRA requirements and affordable lending has been a scapegoat for some, despite data showing otherwise.
 
It will be interesting to see how strong the regulatory oversights are after the reform has been completed, and how effective it will be over time.  I bet it will be quite a challenge to recouncile the House and the Senate versions of the reform.  Keep in mind while the Republicans control the House, the Democrats control the Senate by a small majority, with President Obama wielding the mighty veto pen. 

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Unappreciated Government

As Governor Walker is taking a scythe to the state budget, it's important to keep in mind that the government plays a bigger role in our lives than we realize.  As this amusing NY Times article shows, people don't always realize that they benefit from government programs.

Government plays a role in our lives, like it or not.  The government plans & funds our programs and services, ensure that they're done properly, provides the infrastructure we all need-roads, sewers, etc. and to cut the capacity of the government to do those services will ultimately hurt ourselves in the long run. 

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Possible Futures for Fanne Mae & Freddie Mac

The Atlantic looks at three alternatives proposed by a Treasury report on the future of the Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac.  However the government chooses to proceed, it appears that assistance for low-income borrowers will remain in place, but assistance for higher-income borrowers will be phased out so that the private market will assume more of a role. 

While some have predicted that the end of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would lead to the end of low-cost mortgages, there's some evidence that this may not necessarily be so-for example, the existence of jumbo mortgages which are beyond what the GSEs would cover.

From the standpoint of someone who has been closely following the housing finance policy debate for some time, this report is surprisingly aggressive. Even though the Obama administration doesn't take a firm stance on the best specific housing policy framework, it clearly sets the tone for the debate going forward. Any hope that the government would still maintain a full mortgage guarantee for most of the mortgage market may be dead. This will likely frustrate the real estate industry, banking lobbyists, and mortgage bond investors. But it's ultimately pretty good news for taxpayers.

This pretty much ends the hope that the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund could be fully funded by Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac in the future.  The GSEs were the original funding method for the Housing Trust Fund when it was passed, shortly before the collapse of the housing market.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Legitimatizing Undocumented Ones

Not what you think it is about.

Wonder how common this problem is in Waukesha County?  Does the communities need a special taskforce to hunt each and every one down?

Gorman's Oconomowoc Project Falls Through

Living Lake County reports that Gorman, concluding they wouldn't be able to get tax credits for their proposed renovation of a former Oconomowoc middle school into housing, has allowed their option to purchase offer to expire.

Just a reminder that it doesn't take neighborhood opposition and NIMBYism to end a proposal; this one had community support, but it just didn't score well enough compared to other proposals.

Monday, February 7, 2011

HUD Reports to Congress on Worst Housing Needs

HUD is required to provide a report to the Congress every two years on the "Worst Case Housing Needs" with the recently released report being the 13th, covering 2007-2009 (I discussed the previous report here.)

The term “worst case needs” is defined as very low-income renters with incomes below 50 percent of the Area Median Income who do not receive government housing assistance and who either paid more than one-half of their income for rent or lived in severely inadequate conditions, or who faced both of these challenges.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Feinstein Challenge.

The Feinstein Foundation issues a challenge annually to Hope House of Milwaukee*.  The shelves at Hope House's food pantry are pretty bare, & the Foundation will match all food donations March 1-April 30.

That's a chance to get double the bang for your donations!  They're going for 15,000 pounds of food.

You know what to do.  Start planning your workplace, church, community group, etc. donations.  Call Hope House at (414) 645 – 2122 for details.

* I'm on the Board of Directors.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Concepts in Housing: Federal Home Loan Banks

Second in a series of posts exploring programs and services in housing that some may be unfamiliar with.  The Federal Home Loan Bank is a player in the community that often is not very visible, but also is very essential.

The Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) is, essentially, a bank's bank.  Banks who purchase stocks in the system are members and have access to low-cost funding for home mortgages and community lenders.  There are twelve in the United States, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago (FHLBC) serves Illinois and Wisconsin. 

FHLBC, and all of the other Home Loan Banks, have community investment programs to serve the communities that their members are in, focusing on affordable housing and economic development through grants, subsidized loans, financing assistance, downpayment assistance for homebuyers, etc. This can be a source of funding for many developers, organizations, and homebuyers. 

Real Concerns & NIMBYism

The Freeman reports on the Saturday meeting regarding Hebron House's overflow shelter that was opened recently.

I think those kind of neighborhood meetings are very helpful if neighbors have specific concerns, such as "people are walking along the easement behind the properties" that Hebron House can deal with.  That's the kind of concerns that organizations appreciate hearing-it could mean there's a problem they need to do a better job of fixing, or perhaps it's something they didn't know about.

But then there's neighbors that apparently are opposed to the existence of the overflow shelter, want it gone no matter what.  Those kind of neighbors are not helpful at all.  They're doing what is called Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY), and very often people engaging in NIMBY behavior do not have any real solutions other than "I don't want to see it at all."  Wishing a place out of existence doesn't mean the underlying problem is gone.  I very much doubt those neighbors can offer a solution on what to do with the 26 men who are staying there.

Hebron House and other service providers for the homeless searched for months, if not years, for a permanent place for the overflow shelter.  Elected officials and the media were aware of this search.  The fact that they settled on the school means that there were not many other options (actually, none).  Closing the shelter would mean that the men in the overflow shelter has nowhere else to go for a safe place to stay.   Long-term solutions would include more services on mental health issues, more funding for homelessness prevention, more funding for job programs, and a whole host of long-term programs and services. 

Unless they're willing to support that kind of social net, there will always be people on the streets and a need for shelters.  If not this overflow shelter, the NIMBY people would be protesting churches trying to shelter homeless people on cold nights (which actually was being proposed by some churches), or protesting low-income housing that could provide affordable housing (which has happened many times), etc.

If you don't want an overflow shelter in your neighborhood, then be involved in your community's solutions so that one is not needed..