Mixed Income Housing

The issue the community was in most agreement on Monday night was the need for affordable housing to match the salary ranges in the community rather than arbitrary numbers that will not meet the community’s needs. The current plan calls for 10% moderate income (as defined as 50-80% of the median county income) and 5% middle income (as defined as 80-110% of the median county income). This is totally insufficient and there was clear recognition of this by the community Monday night. The county median income according to the 2000 US Census Bureau is $74,167. This means that under this measure moderate income housing is for people making $37,083.50 to $59,333.60 and middle incoming housing is for people making $59,333.60 to $81,583.70. According to the 2000 census the county household income distribution is:

17.1% of the county households have incomes under $35,000
11.9% of the county households have incomes from $35,000 to

$49,999

21.5% of the county households have incomes from $50,000 to

$74,999

17.6% of the county households have incomes from $75,000 to

$99,999

19.6% of the county households have incomes from $100,000 to

$149,999

7.2% of the county households have incomes from $150,000 to

$199,999

5% of the county households have incomes of $200,000 or more

Think about that for a second.

More than 17.1% of households are completely exclude from having housing options in downtown Columbia. Many of these households include the service sector employees that will work in all of the retail proposed for downtown. They also include the people who will keep the office buildings clean and safe. They also include many of the young professionals the plan declares they are trying to attract to live in the urban downtown environment (I think many young professionals will want to live downtown, but will not be able to afford it).

Just to use the example of the salaries of young professionals that the plan declares it plans to attract to live in the downtown a starting salary for person with a college degree with the federal government (a major employer in our area) is GS-5 Step 1 to GS-7 Step 1 grades which are $29,604 to $36,671. With a masters degree federal starting salaries would be GS-7 Step 1 to GS-9 Step 1 grades whose range would be $36,671 to $44,856.

OK, now the plan sets aside 10% of the housing for the households making $37,083.50 to $59,333.60 that makes up at least 12% of county households, but is more likely around 15% of county households.

Another 5% of the housing is being set aside for households making $59,333.60 to $81,583.70, a range that probably includes roughly 20% of county households.

Thus the proposed plan clearly does not meet the community’s needs. The numbers the plan proposes on “moderate and middle income housing” are clearly ridiculous on the face of it and the audience on Monday recognized that immediately and spoke out loudly about this problem.

If we continue to speak out about these issues, write letters to the editor, and tell our elected officials we can get the plan fixed before it is approved. Once the new residential units are approved the county will have lost their leverage to look out for the needs of the community, so this plan must be fixed before any approval is given.

Stay tuned to the next post on Monday’s meeting …