A new $65 million affordable housing bond will be put before voters this November after Austin City Council voted 7-0 in favor of the proposed ordinance at its Aug. 8 meeting.
"We have recognized as a council the need for affordability, and affordable housing is just a piece of that," Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole said. "I think we've made the commitment to support affordable housing, especially in light of the need in our community for our veterans, our disabled, our women and children, and the homeless."
Cole said the bond amount would not raise the city's tax rate. The bond election was set for Nov. 5.
Cathy Coneway, chairwoman of the Austin Board of Realtors, said both she and her organization were in support of the bond because of the need in the community.
"Austin's housing market is growing aggressively, and as a result, many families are being forced to move outside of Austin to find reasonably priced and affordable housing," Coneway said. "ABOR knows our economy is strongest when there are housing options for everyone in our community, and we understand that the current market cannot satisfy the growing demand of the community without the assistance of these bonds."
Gus Pena, an East Austin resident and activist, also spoke in favor of the bond but was more critical about the council's handling of the issue in previous elections.
"If you had educated the voters in the last election, this would have passed," Pena said. "This is the only bond issue that did not pass. Why? It's because the voters were not educated."
Pena also stressed the need for transitional housing for the homeless to stabilize their situations and move into more permanent forms of housing.
Councilman Bill Spelman suggested the bond be set at $55 million because he believed it would be a more appealing amount to voters and would have a greater chance of being approved. Spelman noted that the city has historically spent about $10 million per year in bond money for affordable housing projects.
"We know we can spend this kind of money productively," Spelman said. "If someone wanted to come back to us and say, 'You don't know how to spend $12 million,'" well maybe we do and maybe we don't. But we do know, and can verify, that we do know how to spend $10 million a year."
Spelman noted that putting a bond on the ballot that leaves the city with extra bonding capacity without a tax increase may be a better political move.
"Given that this is the only bond [that] did not pass [in the previous election], I think we need to take as many arguments of the opponents out of their hands as we can, and this is an attempt at taking those two arguments out of their hands. I believe a $55 million bond is more likely to pass than a $65 million bond."
Betsy Spencer, director of Neighborhood Housing and Community Development with the city of Austin, said when taking all funding sources into account including federal funding, the city has spent about $14 million annually for affordable housing.
"When it comes to capacity overall, I believe we've demonstrated an ability to commit and expend about $14 [million]–$15 million per year," Spencer said.
Councilwoman Laura Morrison said she was comfortable with the higher bond amount because she believed the residents understand the need in the community.
"My sense in talking to the voters—in talking to people—is that people recognize the tremendous need for affordable housing," she said. "People recognize the pressure that our housing is under with tremendous growth."
