Mark Mayfield, the foundation’s CEO, told commissioners in February that a partnership with the county would streamline the process of bringing more affordable housing developments to the area and provide a layer of transparency.
“Most of the people we house are people who work in the retail establishments and work in restaurants or work in schools,” Mayfield said. “They’re necessary, vibrant parts of the community, but they can’t buy the [expensive] homes.”
The commissioners voted unanimously on April 17 to join the Texas Housing Foundation. County Judge Dan Gattis was absent.
REPRESENTING COUNTY INTERESTS
The Texas Housing Foundation currently operates affordable properties in Georgetown, Liberty Hill and other locations outside of Williamson County.
By joining, Williamson County earned a place on the Texas Housing Foundation’s board and can prevent the foundation from exercising the power of eminent domain to acquire property within the county and outside of the boundaries of a municipality, according to county documents.
If the Texas Housing Foundation wants to construct inside of city limits, it must enter into a cooperation agreement with that city, Mayfield said.
“This is not a county-subsidized effort,” said Williamson County Commissioner Precinct 2 Cynthia Long. “It is a voice at the table of something [the Texas Housing Foundation] that has already gone on and can continue to go on without our voice.”
Mayfield said that by having a board member Williamson County will be able to represent its interests within the organization, offering a level of public accountability that other affordable housing developments may not have. John Moman, a former member of Round Rock City Council and other local boards, was appointed to represent Williamson County on the Texas Housing Foundation’s board of commissioners.
“The goal [is] to provide affordable housing for those that don’t make much money,” Moman said.
PROVIDING HOUSING
The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs Housing Tax Credit program awards tax credits to developers who create or maintain affordable rental housing for qualified tenants, according to the department’s website. This differs from Section 8 subsidized housing, which bases rent on the tenant’s income.
Developers are sometimes wary of working on tax-credit housing projects because once they enter a tax-credit program, rent is dictated by the program, rather than changing along with the market, Mayfield said.
“That can be a difficult sell; it [has] got to make economic sense for a developer to take the risk,” he said. “[The Texas Housing Foundation] can come in and mitigate that risk and get the property on the ground for the use of the citizens of that local community.”
The Texas Housing Foundation works primarily in public-private partnerships, often developing tax-credit housing with the help of a for-profit developer, and then the foundation maintains management of the property, Mayfield said. The foundation’s complexes have criteria to determine who qualifies to live at each property, such as income levels, past rental history and criminal or judicial issues, he said.
MEETING THE NEED
Tiesa Hollaway is the executive director of Hill Country Community Ministries, a food pantry based in Leander. She said that since she joined the organization in 2015, the organization has gone from serving 1,100 to 2,000 people per month.
Often they are people who have lost their job, lost or divorced a spouse, or had a medical emergency and face difficulties paying bills, she said. She gets calls from families living in their vehicles or sleeping on friends’ couches looking for help, and said she does not know where to point them.
“We just need a place that people can go until they get a better job, a better place to live,” Holloway said.
Population growth in Williamson County has resulted in higher property values. Many tenants unable to afford rent have difficulty finding new housing, she said.
“There’s an absolute need in Williamson County for transitional housing, or housing for low income, and the reason is the cost of living in Williamson County is so high, [and] the availability for housing is so minimal,” she said.
While Hollaway said the housing authority partnership is “amazing news,” when the resolution to join the foundation was approved in April, seven residents spoke with concerns about the partnership.
“If [the housing residents] are allowed to use [government services funded by taxes], who's paying for them?” Ronda McCauley of Georgetown asked commissioners. "If the person paying for these people to use these social services is me, that's wrong."
Williamson County Commissioner Precinct 1 Terry Cook later said the concern that taxes will shift to other residents is a "kneejerk reaction."
"Churches don't pay taxes, yet those same people probably attend one and want fire and police protection for them and in fact expect it," she said.
