Progress Illinois
by Angela Caputo on April 28, 2009 - 5:02pm
Much like it has with the rest of the state's infrastructure needs, Illinois has long sidestepped responsibility for investing in affordable housing. Advocates have tried to pick up the slack by working to get dozens of projects on the drawing board. But like thousands of other residential projects in limbo across the state, they've fallen victim to a tight credit market and dwindling federal (Low Income Housing Tax Credits) and state (Illinois Affordable Housing Trust Funds) funding.
Gov. Pat Quinn pledged to invest some money into affordable housing from next year's yet-to-be-funded capital budget. But because the stock has been neglected for so long, housing advocates think his $25 million commitment over the next five years -- which amounts to a mere one-tenth of 1 percent of the entire $26 billion capital plan -- won't go very far:
Only about 294 units of affordable housing would be created with $25 million in state funding. If more money were available, plans are in place to start work almost immediately on 3,585 affordable homes and apartments across the state according to a statewide analysis released today. Those projects have total development costs of $756 million. Without a significant increase in state funding, many of the planned projects will never be developed.
Instead, Housing Action Coalition, the Illinois Housing Council, Business and Professional People for the Public Interest, and the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless are calling on state officials to make a $500 million capital investment over the next five years, which they argue is a sound move for the entire state's economy. For starters, they point out that construction would create jobs -- an estimated 1.16 full-time gigs for each unit built. And by relieving some the burden housing costs are levying on low- and moderate-income people -- one in every six Illinois households pays more than half their income for housing -- the state could take in more revenue via the sales tax. Meanwhile, members of the coalition note that a $500 million investment still pales in comparison with other states. California, for example, recently bonded $2.85 billion for similar housing and Massachusetts has committed $170 million from its capital budget for a single year.
Housing Action Illinois' 2008 "Out Of Reach" report, which we highlighted last week, provides a good reminder about why affordable housing development and restoration needs to be supported. Researchers found that housing costs continue to outstrip wages and nearly half of the state's population came up too short to afford the average, two-bedroom apartment last year.
