Affordable housing GO bond would provide recurring money to trust fund for first time
LAS CRUCES - This November, city voters will have the option of approving a slate of four general obligation bond questions.
One of the questions from the $23 million slate is a $6 million affordable housing question. Residents may be wondering what it means to vote yes on this particular question.
The Sun-News spoke with the city's housing manager about the bond question. The question's specific language asks for $6 million "to provide resources to plan, design, construct, acquire, and preserve housing affordable for low to moderate income households, including acquisition of necessary land, utilizing the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund."
General obligation bond financing is a method intended to fund city projects that have no other source of funding. The funding is obtained through the city’s issuance of bonds which are paid back through a temporary increase in property taxes. In 2018, voters approved a $35.6 million slate of GO bond projects. The Las Cruces City Council approved this year's bond questions in August.
Natalie Green, Las Cruces' Housing and Neighborhood Services manager, said if the affordable housing question is approved this election, $6 million is expected to be transferred to the city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The money would be available for two major purposes, Green said — to better position the city to provide matching funds to affordable housing projects and to acquire land to be used to support the development of housing.
Green said the city is short an estimated 5,600 rental units. Doña Ana County is projected to need 4,991 units to accommodate renters across the income bracket spectrum and 6,710 ownership units, according to a September report by the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority.
The trust fund has not had a dedicated funding source since it was established more than a decade ago, Green said. The fund currently holds about $700,000, she said. Not only would a $6 million injection be a big deal, but Green said that since money would be disbursed in the form of loans, the fund will be fully replenished with added interest. This would essentially mark the first time the trust fund would have a recurring source of money.
"The Land Bank and Trust Fund (have) been in existence for a period of time," Green said. "There just hasn't been sufficient funding to really launch the (housing) program."
In the past, Green said the city and its affordable housing partners have not been as competitive as other places when competing for state-administered federal funds to support affordable developments, nor has Las Cruces had much money available to support more than one or two projects each year. In the past, Green said the city has only been able to leverage federal HOME funds, not trust fund dollars.
It's too early to say how many different developments $6 million would support, Green said, but the bond money would allow the municipality to support more developments in a given year than it can right now. The city is aiming to support a number of different types of housing — multifamily apartments, single-family homes for first-time homebuyers and housing for seniors on fixed incomes, for instance. Green said the city is realistically hoping to boost the overall housing supply by a total of 300 units.
"That's really how I'd like to see this funding used, as a catalyst for redevelopment in our infill area, so we can reinvest in the areas that we've seen that level of disinvestment," Green said.
Green said she didn't anticipate Desert Hope, the permanent supportive housing apartment complex for recently homeless tenants, would receive any of the funds for expansion. Management problems plagued the complex after it opened last August, which led residents in the surrounding area to report criminal activity and complain about the complex's presence. A new management firm was hired in July.
But Green said the city hasn't given up on helping to fund housing developments for the recently homeless, saying that the old Compress Field property next to the Mesilla Valley Community of Hope on West Amador Avenue could become permanent supportive housing. Green said those developments tend to take more time and require a higher level of subsidization, so it's unknown if that potential development would receive any bond funds.
The Compress Field property is held in the city's Affordable Housing Land Bank.
The city's land bank holds land for the future development of affordable housing and works in tandem with the trust fund. Green said the trust fund can be used to acquire land for the land bank.
"The idea is that, as the city grows, this land bank can hold key pieces for future development," Green said. One of her ideas is for the city to purchase a subdivision to develop affordable single-family homes.
There are three other GO bond ballot questions city residents will be able to vote for. Even if all four of the $23 million bond questions pass, property taxes will not increase. Voters are allowed to vote yes on all four, or they can vote yes and no on individual questions.
If only some or none of the questions pass, property taxes will decrease once the city pays out the bonds passed in 2018.
Here are the other three questions.
$10 million to acquire, plan, design, construct and equip a new fire station north of US Highway 70 and east of Interstate 25.
$5 million to continue to expand the East Mesa Public Recreation Complex, which is currently under construction.
$2 million to renovate and improve existing parks and recreational facilities.
City residents will vote on each of the bond questions in the general election Nov. 8.
Others are reading:
Police identify two killed in Alamo Street apartment in Las Cruces
Cannabis business will cease outdoor consumption after 'misunderstanding' with city government
Organ Mountain falls to Centennial, but team bond has never been stronger after Romero's passing
Michael McDevitt is a city and county government reporter for the Sun-News. He can be reached at 575-202-3205, mmcdevitt@lcsun-news.com or @MikeMcDTweets on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Las Cruces affordable housing GO bond question: What to know
