‘We are thrilled.’ Raleigh voters back affordable housing bond by a landslide
Raleigh voters gave overwhelming support to the city’s $80 million affordable housing bond.
With all 110 precincts reporting, 166,785 people, or nearly 72% of those voting, supported the bond, Raleigh’s first in nearly a decade.
Another 65,797 people, or 28%, opposed the bond.
“We are thrilled,” Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said Tuesday night. “This is something the City Council campaigned on, and placing a housing bond was a number one priority when we entered office. More than anything I want to thank the people of Raleigh. I believe they have taken a strong stance by supporting this with more than 70% of the vote.”
“More than anything I think it indicates a true compassion for people,” she added. “And our homeless people, our most vulnerable families, our families living in hotels. I think that says a lot about who we are.”
The money will be spent on five priorities:
- $16 million to buy land for future affordable housing. Most would be spent to build affordable housing along transit lines. But it could also be used to preserve existing affordable housing.
- $28 million for public-private partnerships. Part of this would go to nonprofits to help people who are homeless.
- $24 million for gap financing. This is traditionally how the city has helped created affordable housing. This money would be given to nonprofits or developers to help cover the cost of building affordable housing.
- $6 million for first-time homebuyers. This builds on a program already in the city’s affordable housing department. People must meet income requirements and be buying a home for the first time. The $6 million would help create 200 affordable housing units.
- $6 million for the rehabilitation of homes. This also continues a program already used by the city to help people remain in those homes.
Some housing advocates and groups, including the Wake County Housing Justice Coalition wanted to see more done to help the city’s poorest residents.
Still, Yolanda Taylor, a coalition member, said she wasn’t surprised to see voter endorse the bond.
“I just believe that this so-called initial step could have been a better effort in first helping those without any options and then helping those at various price points who have options,” she said in a statement.
“I really worry about the millions of unemployment claims filed in the state and what’s going to happen to those people when that money runs out,” she added. “People who never needed-low income housing may need it for the first time in their lives. I am also concerned about the low-wage earners who contribute to whether or not we benefit from a healthy economy. They have the least options.”
Raleigh was the only city or town in Wake County with a bond on the ballot.
The bond could raise Raleigh’s property tax rate by 0.78 cents per $100 valuation. The owner of a median-price home could pay $23.40 more in city property taxes per year.
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 8:29 PM.
