Janelle Irwin Taylor
The city of Tampa joined last week a coalition of national Mayors and CEOs aiming to show that housing and homelessness is an investment, not an expense.
The group Mayors & CEOS for U.S. Housing is a first of its kind coalition of local government and business leaders compiled to further efforts to establish public-private partnerships in cities that can address affordable housing and homelessness and collectively oppose funding cuts.
The group includes Mayors and business leaders from Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington.
“One of my first budget actions is enabling housing that Tampa can afford by focusing on smart growth, affordable housing down payments and assistance, increasing new housing stock and affordable rental opportunities and through new programs to lower housing costs through rehabilitation and energy conservation,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said. “But these local initiatives are not enough to address the nationally systemic issues of affordability and lack of supply. Tampa and all U.S. cities need the federal government as our partner at the core of the U.S. housing system, pledging to invest in housing that residents of Tampa and all American cities can afford. This growing coalition is the right venue for us to push for that change.”
The new group makes the argument housing is a pro-family, pro-jobs, patriotic investment for the federal government. The group references a National Association of Home Builders study showing that innovative investing in and building of 100 affordable rental homes can generate more than $11 million in local income, $2 million in tax and other revenue for local governments and create more than 160 local jobs. That’s all just in the first year.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition also found that investment bears dividends economically and socially. For every additional year a child spends in a better neighborhood environment, their economic outcome as an adult improves, which extends their benefit to the community.
The group also aims to encourage national dialogue promoting funding for housing projects and entice private sector partners to the table so to increase awareness of how investing in communities provides dividends by creating economic growth, building a stronger workforce and establishing a more fiscally sustainable city.
The group will also serve as an advocacy arm to influence policy at the federal level and reinforce the federal government’s role as a vital housing and homelessness partner.
6 comments
Ray Blacklidge
August 26, 2019 at 12:30 pm
Why not go one step further. If we are going to help them with affordable housing why not just provide them with a path to home ownership. That way the working poor and homeless receive the benefit of public aid in the form of equity rather than some third party making a killing off of government funds?
Lisa
August 26, 2019 at 6:15 pm
Laws need to change on panhandling. Start there. It’s a real problem in both Tampa and Hillsborough County. Rewarding capable people with housing is NO solution and the costs will only fall back on the working class.
Carmen Munez
August 26, 2019 at 11:06 pm
False! The costs of anything provided by the federal government doesn’t cost Taxpayers one cent, because federal taxes are deleted upon receipt and never pay for anything. It is Congress that issues all currency for payments and expenditures once approved by appropriations. The US is a monetarily sovereign Nation with a Free floating non convertible Fiat currency and can never go broke as long as there are real resources such as land, labor and raw materials. We are a resource based economy. Only States and municipalities reuse taxes for revenue, because States are currency users,the federal government however,is the sole Currency Issuer with the power of the purse. Therein lies the difference. This is what the mayor’s know. They know that if the indigent housing is funded by the federal government it won’t cost anyone one cent. The only problem is,our federal government is corrupt and pushes artificial scarcity and needless Austerity propaganda by refusing to spend on the public purpose. The reason for that is because they’ve been bought by Wall Street,and keeping people poor and desperate forces them to take out predatory lending,and private borrowing which benefits the already filthy rich. The homeless is a direct result of their Neoliberalism,so don’t blame the homeless,blame those corrupt politicians who purposely cause this and other unecessary hardships on “we the people”. #LearnMMT
Bvirgen
August 27, 2019 at 12:35 am
LISTEN WOMAN..IF THESE HUMAN BEINGS HAVE A CHANCE TO GET OFF THE F# STREETS WITH VERY LOW HOUSING COSTS AND GIVE THEM A SIMPLE JOB MORE THAN HALF OF THEM WOULD NOT BE OUT THERE PANHANDLING!!! BUT FOLKS LIKE YOU THINK YOU KNOW EACH AND EVERY STORY IN A PERSON’S LIFE.YOU JUDGE FALSELY..THE MEASURE YOU USE WOMAN IT SHALL COME BACK TO YOU.WHO MADE YOU GOD? SURELY SATAN HAS YOU BLINDED..AND YOU SHALL BE PUNISHED FOR YOUR EVIL..EVENTUALLY..THERE IS A GOD WHO YOU WILL KNEEL AND BOW DOWN TO. EDOMITE..EVERYTHING YOU HAVE BELONGS TO THE ONE WHO CREATED YOUR HEARTLESS A SS AND GIVES YOU EVERY BREATHE..WHO THE F# DO YOU THINK YOU REALLY..GET A LIFE
Jeanette
August 26, 2019 at 10:03 pm
Low income disabled and low income seniors have a hard enough time having food stability. There is no money left over for anything else other than the small portion paid towards housing via housing assistance. Everyone who wants a home cannot afford it because of what it costs, however, if we invested funds into housing for those who can no longer be part of the working population improves our social standing and gives us opportunities not otherwise found. Many of us have worked out entire lives, and many of us are veterans. We are forced to find the lowest priced hoiusing in Tampa because the rate ofr apartments via HUD doesn’t meet the current rental market rates. We are forced to live a low quality life because we cannot work to make things change for ourselves. We are respectable people who matter, yet there seems to be no mention of those of us who need the help up the most. Many of us who are in deplorable housing and using HUD funding could live a better life if only the HUD rates would increase and could do even more by putting those funds towards paying for homes. As it is now, we are relegated to being in poverty due to old age and disabilities. Please help us all.
Carmen Munez
August 26, 2019 at 11:13 pm
Thank you for your compassion,and yes the federal government can easily provide housing via HUD or any other way as in subsidised housing overnight just like they find funding for the obscene military budgets,and bailing out the bankers to the tune of 16 trillion in 08-09 without hesitation,and it doesn’t cost anyone one cent.
Comments are closed.