[NYAPRS Enews] Lopez: Spitzer Plan Could Triple Expansion in Affordable Housing

[Harvey Rosenthal]

Praise and Questions for $400 Million Housing Plan 

by Trymaine Lee    New York Times    January 15, 2008

 

In what he called "the biggest housing initiative in a generation," Gov.
Eliot Spitzer said in his State of the State address on Wednesday that
he would propose a $400 million affordable housing fund to help
working-class New Yorkers, the poor and people with special needs.

 

While some lawmakers lauded the proposal, others said they needed
details about how the governor would pay for it, given an anticipated $4
billion deficit for the fiscal year that begins in April. 

 

"When the governor said no new taxes, how do you get to achieve these
goals with the economy softening, with revenue softening?" asked Senator
John J. Bonacic, a Republican from Mount Hope and the chairman of the
Senate's Housing Committee. 

 

Nevertheless, Mr. Bonacic added that he thought the governor's proposal
was "not a good thing" but "a wonderful thing."

 

"Housing, generally they give lip service to it in the past, or it's not
so high on the radar screen," Mr. Bonacic said.

 

Education, health care and transportation typically gobble up the bulk
of the state's annual funding. And the interest groups that support
those issues have generally been able to trump the housing issue and the
nonprofits that advocate on its behalf.

 

The governor's proposed Housing Opportunity Fund, in addition to the
state's regular funding, would more than triple the amount normally
allocated for affordable housing, according to Assemblyman Vito J.
Lopez, a Brooklyn Democrat and the chairman of the Assembly Housing
Committee. 

 

The new fund would also be used to develop housing for those with mental
and physical disabilities, as well as those dealing with addictions, Mr.
Spitzer said.

 

"This is an issue the state has abdicated over the years," he said after
an appearance in Brooklyn on Sunday. "Especially in New York City, it
has resulted in the exodus of our middle class and our work force. Our
teachers, our firefighters, our hospital workers have found it
impossible to find housing that they can live in."

 

The bulk of the money to pay for the program would come from the state's
Mortgage Insurance Fund and proceeds from the state's mortgage tax,
according to Mr. Lopez.

 

More will be known about the initiative next week after Mr. Spitzer
presents his budget, but it appeared that the assistance would mainly be
provided through state bonds for housing construction and
rehabilitation. 

 

Tom Dunham, a spokesman for Senator Dean G. Skelos, a Long Island
Republican and the deputy majority leader of the Senate, said Mr. Skelos
would reserve judgment on the proposal until he learned its details.

 

The increase would be a divergence from the housing policy of Gov.
George E. Pataki.

 

During much of Mr. Pataki's tenure, nearly every developer building
rental apartments who asked the state for tax-free bonds got them as
long as they agreed to set aside 20 percent of the units for low- and
moderate-income tenants for 20 years. The 80-20 program, as it was
known, meant millions for developers. But critics said the program
overly benefited developers of luxury projects that were out of reach
for poorer residents.

 

Funding for affordable housing had remained "flat" at about $180 million
a year for about the past 15 years, Mr. Lopez said. 

 

Advocacy groups that have long sought to have the state put muscle
behind initiatives to lower housing costs for New Yorkers applauded Mr.
Spitzer's proposal. 

 

"We think it's great that the governor is really looking at the crisis
of affordable housing across the state, and he is making that link
between housing and economic development," said Josh Lockwood, the
executive director of Habitat for Humanity of New York City.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/nyregion/15spitzer.html?_r=1&ref=nyreg
ion&oref=slogin 

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