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Agenda - 04-11-2000-5b
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Agenda - 04-11-2000-5b
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8/29/2008 3:59:40 PM
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BOCC
Date
4/11/2000
Document Type
Agenda
Agenda Item
5b
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Minutes - 04-11-2000
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a <br />The Chapel Dill ~e~ <br />Sunday, March 1.2, 200 <br />Affordable <br />housing: A test <br />of leadership <br />Several years ago, affordable housing <br />advocates sought the support of the Chapel <br />Hill business community for a bond issue to <br />subsidize housing costs for people who can't <br />afford to live in Orange County. <br />The response of one prominent business <br />leader was memorable: Why should I pay <br />higher taxes so someone else can afford to <br />buy a house? . <br />The comment unfortunately represented <br />the sentiment of too many folic in this <br />community, and the result was that the band <br />issue went nowhere. Sensing no political <br />support, the Orange County commissioners <br />did not consider a referendum. <br />Since then, of course, the housing situation <br />in Chapel Hill and Carrboro has only gotten <br />worse. Housing prices have skyrocketed, <br />and fewer and fewer people can afford to <br />live here. In Orange County, a family of four <br />making 60 percent of the median income can <br />afford only d percent of the homes sold in <br />the county. <br />The problem is not just one of economics, <br />but of community and quality of life. People <br />who dewy the changing character of Chapel <br />Hill may talk about chain stores on Franklin <br />Street ar of cul{ie-sac proliferation along <br />Airport Road. But the real change is in the <br />character of the community, as the <br />population morphs from workers, artisans <br />and university faculty and staff to <br />professionals and retirees. Of the 10,000 <br />people who work at the university, 4b <br />percent do nvt live in Orange County. <br />Shrinking diversity affects the community's <br />soul; homogeneity breeds blandness. <br />All this will be the backdrop Monday as <br />the Orange County commissioners meet <br />with officials of Chapel Hill, Carrboro and <br />Hillsborough to address the need to do <br />something about affordable housing. <br />The immediate issue is a proposal to create <br />a housing trust fund that would be funded <br />from a penny of the county's property tax <br />rate. As letters to the editor to this page in <br />recent weeks reflect, there is increasing <br />pressure on the commissioners to provide <br />such a dedicat~,_;x~~.~;~~::-g~ ~,,.,,:;~::• ~":. ~ : ; <br />. So far, the commissioners have,resisted the <br />pressure, saying thew are toa~many <br />competing needs for couniy~services to~ <br />carve out a slice of the tax pie for one <br />specific area. But the commissioners have <br />indicated interest in taking a broad look at <br />the housutg need, and we hope Monday's <br />meeting will launch a significant housing <br />initiative that will involve both the <br />comrunity and the university. <br />As a template for action, the county and <br />local governments might use an ambitious <br />proposal by long-time housing champion <br />Henry Clark, retired vice chancellor for <br />health affairs at UNC. Clark calls for along- <br />range plan to be created by a task force of <br />community and university leaders that <br />ultimately could lead to a substantial fund <br />#or housing. He envisions a $30-million fund, <br />to come from a $10 million county bond <br />issue, $10 million in fund-raising through the <br />unuversity and $10 million in local private <br />fund-raising. Clark and his wife themselves <br />have offered to contribute $300,000. <br />"While aU this may appear to be an <br />impassible dream;' Clark says, "it is <br />probably primarily a test of the capacity of <br />local leadership to join forces in addressing a <br />major community-wide problem that is of <br />concern to each." <br />Maybe a dream,, certaix~iy ambitious. We <br />hope the commissioners azid town leaders, <br />when they come together Monday, dare to <br />think as big about a problem that we can no <br />longer wish away and that cannot be solved <br />with incremental steps. <br />Why should taxpayers subsidize the cost <br />of someone else's home? We already do, <br />through federal tax breaks on mortgage <br />loans and property tax payments. But that <br />subsidy is for the rich and middle class. The <br />challenge for this community is to help <br />hel vide housing for those who really need <br />P• <br />
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