In response to the upcoming Ballot Question #4: “Shall The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to provide for a mandatory annual appropriation for the Housing Trust Fund?”, the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations (PACDC) urges Philadelphians to Vote YES!
It is about time Philadelphia allocates additional permanent, dedicated funding to the most basic need of having a safe, secure, and stable place to call home. Housing is critically tied to so many important outcomes including school performance, physical and mental health, stable employment, and economic mobility.
PHILADELPHIA VOTERS’ RESOURCES
While Covid has exacerbated the situation, and stable housing is all the more critical now, we also need longer-term solutions to build resilient communities. Just as we need at least a floor of funding to support our schools, a 0.5 percent budget allocation is a reasonable minimum to support all of the great things the Housing Trust Fund (HTF) does for our city and its residents when properly funded. This includes addressing home repair and modifications needs, helping house people experiencing homelessness, and building new homes in communities that desperately need the investment.
Philadelphia has an affordable housing crisis, and the current HTF is woefully lacking in resources to meet housing needs across the city. According to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Philadelphia has a deficit of nearly 70,000 affordable rental homes available to people earning 30 percent or less than the median family income.
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There are over 82,000 people on the now closed Philadelphia Housing Authority waiting list. These households pay more than they can afford on housing costs, leaving little for transportation, food, medical care, or other basic necessities. This crisis is straining our already inadequate social safety net and putting families under stress that leads to poor physical and mental health.
While there are various ways to address this problem, one of the most direct is to support the HTF, which voters can all do on or before Election Day on November 2.
Voting YES on Question #4 will help us move one step closer to providing affordable homes to all who need them.
Since the HTF was created in 2005, it has served a wide variety of needs that are critical to safe, secure and stable housing. The programs supported by the HTF include the construction of thousands of new affordable homes and the Basic Systems Repair Program, which helps low income homeowners to fix things like roofs and other systems before they become devastating problems.
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It also supports first-time homebuyers with settlement assistance and helps residents who have fallen behind on their utility bills. Moreover, the HTF funds programs to prevent and end homelessness. In fact, studies show that HTF investments have increased property values in the surrounding area, created over 10,000 construction jobs, and generated millions of dollars in tax revenue.
This mandatory allocation does not tie the hands of the mayor or future City Councils because its escape clause allows the finance director to suspend payments during severe budgetary downturns. Instead, it ensures that future mayoral administrations and City Council keep their promise to properly fund the HTF.
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Philadelphia has a long way to go in making safe, secure and stable housing available to all, and a 0.5 percent budget allocation is just a small drop in the bucket of what Philadelphians facing housing instability deserve.
Voting YES on Question #4 will help us move one step closer to providing affordable homes to all who need them.
Rick Sauer is executive director of the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations. Maria Gonzalez is PACDC’s board chair and executive director of HACE.
The Citizen welcomes guest commentary from community members who stipulate to the best of their ability that it is fact-based and non-defamatory.
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Header photo by Marco Verch / Flickr