HomeMy WebLinkAboutRec. & Parks Board opinion regarding Workforce Housing Ordinance
BozemanRecreation&ParksAdvisoryBoard
P.O. Box 1230·Bozeman, MT·59771
Much has changed since the City Commission enacted the Workforce Housing Ordinance in 2007. The
entire nation got a huge unwelcome dose of reality and the Bozeman housing market was certainly not
Recreation and
immune. Now that the time to review the effectiveness of this program has arrived, the
Parks Advisory Board would like to offer its opinion.
Here are the current market conditions as we see them:
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The HUD income figures to which the Workforce Housing Ordinance is keyed are up
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5.6% from 2007.
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There is a very large inventory of affordable residential units on the market now. As of
June 21, 2009 there were 259 units on the market at $250,000 or less; 130 units priced
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at $189,000 or less.
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The Workforce
First Time Homebuyer’s Tax Credit adds another $8,000 of affordability to the
Housing Ordinance
target market.
The City itself no longer supports the day-to-day costs of the Workforce Housing Ordinance
program. The position of Workforce Housing Administrator has been eliminated, and the
budget environment seems unlikely to return to its previously robust state any time soon. Yet it
appears that there is no way this program can succeed without a fulltime administrator.
Financing the Workforce Housing Ordinance comes at the expense of other valued programs.
Along with the administration expense there is the “cost offset” expense that will be borne by
the citizens of Bozeman in the form of lost parkland and impact fees.
Given these factors we conclude that the City can no longer afford to give away parkland to
finance this unneeded and unsupported program. It is estimated that the loss of park acreage
to the City under this program will be 11% of all future parkland. The value of parkland to a
cityscape goes far beyond the temporary and transitory whims of the marketplace and the
continued forfeiture of parkland, well meaning as it may be, is a shortsighted and ineffectual
strategy. In this economic climate it is wrong for the people of Bozeman to subsidize
development of properties for which there is no need and ownership of which needs to be
rationed and controlled. Therefore the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board recommends the
City abandon this program and repeal the Workforce Housing Ordinance.
US Department of Housing and Urban Development
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[http://www.huduser.org/datasets/il/il2009/2009MedCalc.odn?INPUTNAME=NCNTY3003
1N30031*3003199999%5EGallatin+County&selection_type=county&stname=Montana&st
atefp=30.0&wherefrom=mfi&year=2009]
Bozeman MSL 6/21/09
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