MHP was proud to host a County Executive Candidates Forum at the Long Branch Community Center on June 29. The session was co-sponsored by the Long Branch Business League, Community CHEER, and the Sligo Branview Community Association. More than 125 people attended. The session featured community resident moderators. Participating candidates were David Blair, Marc Elrich, Peter James, Hans Riemer, and Shelly Skolnick. They responded to questions from the community about quality-of-life issues, including traffic, safety, and access to affordable housing.
MHP President Robert A. Goldman is urging the Montgomery County Council to support efforts to protect low-income renters during the COVID-19 crisis as a top funding priority. The recommendations are contained in submitted testimony on fiscal 2021 budget priorities.
He recommended that the Council support:
- $20 million in emergency rental assistance for renters, with priority given to residents ineligible for unemployment insurance;
- Temporary 100% PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) property tax abatements;
- An additional $10 million to continue production of new affordable housing; and
- Support for the County Executive’s Affordable Housing Acquisition/Preservation Fund
The Council is poised to respond to some of these priorities soon. As a first step, the panel will consider a $2 million special appropriation for emergency eviction prevention and housing stabilization programs to help low- and moderate-income households.
In addition, led by Councilmember Evan Glass, the Council has sent a letter to County Executive Marc Elrich requesting that he expand eligibility guidelines for rental assistance programs, and to work with landlords to provide renters with a six-month transition period to meet rental obligations for vulnerable residents once the state of emergency is lifted. The letter can be viewed here.
For more details on MHP’s testimony on funding priorities, see the full statement here.
ACTION ALERT – Montgomery County Housing Trust Fund
The Montgomery County Council’s budget deliberations are in full swing and we need you to be a champion for programs that support affordable housing in the county. Access to quality, affordable housing serves as an important source of stability for our neighbors who face economic challenges, and the county’s housing trust fund is the primary tool for building and preserving housing for low-income households.
On Thursday, Feb. 13, the Montgomery County Council’s Planning, Housing and Economic Development (PHED) Committee will take up the capital budget for the County’s housing trust fund, known as the Housing Initiative Fund (HIF). The County Executive has recommended a total of $22 million for housing production, or level funding from last year. In addition, he has proposed setting aside $10 million for a new “Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund,” a dedicated private-public fund to preserve affordable housing. These additional funds will provide a needed boost to preserve affordable housing before it is lost, but we also need additional resources in the HIF to accelerate the development of new housing that is affordable to low- and moderate- income renters. At the local level, emails from residents often prove to be the deciding factor in budget decisions.
It is critical that Councilmembers hear from YOU on this issue before Thursday as the committee’s recommendation will carry substantial weight with the full Council. Please email the Council to let them know that you care about residents having access to affordable housing and support additional resources for the HIF.
Below is a message you can copy and personalize to urge County Council to support strong funding for affordable housing. Click here for a list of Councilmembers’ email addresses.
Dear Council President Katz and Members of the Council:
I am writing to express my strong support for robust funding of the Housing Initiative Fund (HIF), to support preservation and creation of affordable housing in Montgomery County, and to request that the Council increase funding in the capital budget for Affordable Housing Acquisition and Preservation. As you know, Montgomery County, and the region, are experiencing an affordable housing crisis.
The Council of Governments adopted regional housing targets to meet current and future housing needs, and the County Council took action to support this effort. In an independent effort, the Urban Institute projected that Montgomery County will need to create more than 20,000 units of housing for households with incomes of $55,000 or less in the next 10 years to meet the demand. If the County is serious about meeting the housing targets it has endorsed, we must find a way to ramp up production and preservation efforts and devote the necessary resources beginning with this budget.
On Thursday, the Council’s PHED committee will take up the HIF budget. I urge you to increase funding over and above the County Executive’s budget request, and to take bold steps to accelerate the development of affordable housing in the county.
Sincerely
Montgomery County should take strong steps to expand the availability of affordable housing, MHP’s Chris Gillis told the County Council at a Feb. 6 hearing on the fiscal 2021 capital budget.
“MHP’s top priority in the County Executive’s proposed capital budget is additional funding to support the acquisition, development, and renovation of affordable housing, and to grow the Housing Initiative Fund (HIF) to $100 million annually by 2022,” said Gillis, MHP’s director of policy and neighborhood development.
He noted the Urban Institute estimated that Montgomery County needs to create an additional 20,000 units of housing for households with incomes of $55,000 or less by 2030 to meet residents’ needs. This would require producing about 2,000 units a year for low- to moderate-income households. But at current funding levels, the county is only producing about 600 units a year, making it likely the need will not be fully addressed.
Gillis praised the County Executive’s proposal to create a new Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund. The fund would be capitalized with $10 million in county dollars for each of the next two years with the intention of leveraging additional private capital to make $40 to $50 million available to loan to developers. But he urged
caution in how funding is structured and priorities are set.
“All affordable housing projects in Montgomery County require some level of gap financing and we worry that if the HIF doesn’t increase by a commensurate amount or more, it will create a serious bottleneck on the trust fund. It potentially sets up a scenario where the lion’s share of the HIF is being used to support preservation to the detriment of new production, which is no less important.”
Gillis added, “We recommend that the Council increase funding for the HIF by $10 million in FY21. These additional resources will ensure that we don’t repeat past mistakes and put us on the path of getting to $100 million by the end of 2022.”
Read his full statement here.
The Montgomery County Council’s budget deliberations are in full swing and we need you to be a champion for programs that support affordable housing in the county. Access to quality, affordable housing serves as an important source of stability for our neighbors who face economic challenges.
On Wednesday, April 24, the Council’s Planning, Housing and Economic Development (PHED) and Health and Human Services (HHS) committees will take up the budget for the County’s housing trust fund, known as the Housing Initiative Fund (HIF). The County Executive has recommended a total of $27 million for housing production, a decrease of $1 million from last year. Even more concerning is that approximately 75% of the funds have already been committed to projects, leaving the county with very few resources to build or preserve affordable housing in the coming fiscal year. To ensure preservation and creation of affordable housing remains a top priority in Montgomery County we are requesting the County Council increase funding for the HIF by $8 million.
At the local level, emails from residents often prove to be the deciding factor in budget decisions. It is critical that Councilmembers hear from YOU on this issue before Wednesday as the committee’s recommendation will carry substantial weight with the full Council.
We want all Montgomery County residents to have the chance to flourish. Expanding affordable housing in mixed income, high opportunity areas provides access to better economic, educational, and health outcomes for community members who have been historically shut out of thriving neighborhoods.
Please email the Council to let them know that you care about residents having access to affordable housing and support additional resources for the HIF.
TAKE ACTION:
We’ve made it easy for you; all you have to do is click here and a pre-populated email will open. Simply add your name and address to the bottom of the email and press ‘Send’!
MHP President Robert Goldman asked the Montgomery County Council to provide more funding for acquisition and preservation of affordable housing in the FY2020 budget. He also asked the council to consider supporting MHP’s Play & Learn preschool program, which he noted “directly aligns with the county’s goal of ensuring that all of our children enter school ready to learn.” Goldman made his comments in April 10 testimony before the Montgomery County Council.
Read the complete text of his testimony here.
Montgomery County should actively seek to preserve affordable housing as it moves forward with the Veirs Mill Corridor master plan, according to Montgomery Housing Partnership.
In public testimony before the Montgomery County Council, MHP Senior Project Manager and Legal Counsel Stephanie Roodman generally praised the plan, which was initiated by the Maryland County Planning Board. MHP is the developer of Halpine Hamlet Apartments, a community of 67 primarily affordable one- and two-bedroom apartments near Twinbrook Parkway.
But Roodman expressed some concerns about the potential for redevelopment to force out affordable housing options. “To the extent that the sector plan is incentivizing redevelopment along this corridor, the plan should ensure a one-for-one replacement of the potential loss of market-rate affordable housing.” She said, “This can best be done by the county aggressively seeking to identify county-owned sites where affordable housing can be located in this plan.”
The updated corridor plan is intended to:
- Guide future land uses along the Veirs Mill Road corridor from Wheaton to Rockville.
- Improve the compatibility between the land uses adjacent to Veirs Mill Road and the future bus rapid transit corridor.
- Improve pedestrian and bicycle accessibility, connectivity and safety within the plan area.
- Redevelop at strategic locations to provide more walkable, neighborhood-serving development.
- Apply a comprehensive streetscape design and opportunities for placemaking within the corridor.
Read more:
The MHP team traveled to meet with legislators in Annapolis for Community Development Day 2019, sponsored by Community Development Network of Maryland. It’s an important opportunity to meet with state legislators to seek support for community development, affordable housing funding, and economic initiatives that help communities served by MHP. It’s also a chance to say thank you to committed supporters.
Top priorities include: 1) dedication of excess money from the Unclaimed Property Fund to the Community Development Fund; and 2) full funding of the Maryland Community Legacy program at a level of $8 million. The Community Legacy program provides local governments and community development organizations with funding for essential projects aimed at strengthening communities through activities such as business retention and attraction, encouraging homeownership and commercial revitalization.
Oscar, an MHP resident and a senior in high school, advocated for continued support for affordable housing in testimony at a budget forum convened by Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich to gather input on fiscal 2020 funding priorities. County Executive Elrich praised Oscar for his advocacy and service to the community, noting that he is “a big fan” of the work that MHP is doing to preserve and expand access to affordable housing.
Here is Oscar’s statement:
“Good evening, everyone. My name is Oscar. I am a senior at Northwood High School. This summer I hope to continue with college. You might think that I am here to advocate for schools, but I am here because having a safe home that I can afford gives me the security and stability to continue contributing to my community.
I am a McDonald’s employee who works 5 days a week. In my free time, I am a volunteer in my community. I live in Montgomery Housing Partnership’s Amherst Apartments in Wheaton. Being able to live in Amherst has given me and my sister the security of an affordable, safe home.
Everyone deserves to have the same opportunity that I had to live in a safe and affordable place. Thank you for supporting programs that give me and other people like me a place to call home.”
