Hillsborough County reassessing funds for housing
Just over a month after local faith leaders and advocates asked Hillsborough County commissioners for their continued commitment to creating affordable housing, the board voted Wednesday to remove money earmarked for that purpose.
Hillsborough commissioners tentatively voted 5-2 to repeal an ordinance requiring $10 million of the county's budget go toward its affordable housing fund. Language to make the change happen will have to come back to the commission at a future date for a public hearing and second vote.
Commissioner Chris Boles originally motioned to have staff draft language that would require all new money allocated to the affordable housing fund be used for public safety instead. Instead, the board voted to kill the earmark for affordable housing.
Boles said he brought up the issue Wednesday because of upcoming budget discussions, and will likely look toward other avenues for increasing spending on public safety.
'I know there are affordable housing needs in our community,' said Boles, who was previously a battalion chief with Hillsborough County Fire Rescue. 'But in that same token, I won't apologize for supporting our first responders.'
The County Commission created the HOPE Affordable Housing Act trust fund in 2019. It came in response to pleas from the group Hillsborough Organization for Progress and Equality.
The group includes more than two dozen multicultural and interfaith congregations in Hillsborough that advocate for social justice issues. County commissioners named the affordable housing fund after the organization.
Every year, the county administrator is required to direct $10 million of the county's budget to the fund.
But, commissioners can vote on how to use it. For the past two years, commissioners voted to use only $2 million for housing and diverted the remaining $8 million to other areas.
Boles said affordable housing already receives local, state and federal funds. Most public safety money comes from local taxpayers.
'If we don't have a safe community,' Boles said, 'no one will want to live here even if they can afford it.'
He said it is taking longer for public safety officials to respond to calls, and the Sheriff's Office needs 500 more deputies because of population growth. More than 60% of the county's current budget goes toward public safety, Commissioner Gwen Myers said during the meeting.
The county is slated to receive $709 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Around 56% of the money, or $397 million, is required to be spent on affordable housing over six years.
The county will have to pay out of pocket and get reimbursed for money spent under the grant.
'Would you rather come here and talk about $2 million that you may not get?' Boles said. 'Or would you rather spend your time and effort lobbying for the $397 million?'
Commissioner Joshua Wostal said the current affordable housing ordinance is 'anti-democratic' because it dictates how future boards can use money. Wostal emphasized that his support for Boles' motion was not against the Hillsborough Organization for Progress and Equality and is not ending affordable housing funding.
'There are different pots of money that are already allocated for this,' Wostal said.
Myers and Harry Cohen were the two 'no' votes.
Cohen said he was supportive of providing money for the sheriff, but there 'isn't an identifiable need' for more funding for his staff — he returns unspent money to the county every year, Cohen said.
'To take the countywide affordable housing funds that the board has shown its capable of allocating any way it wants is not a sensible way to move forward,' Cohen said.
Several speakers with the advocacy group came to Wednesday's meeting. In an emailed statement to the Tamp Bay Times, leaders of the group wrote that the fund helped create nearly 1,100 affordable homes.
'We call on the Commissioners to face the facts, hear their constituents, and reverse this flawed decision,' their statement read. 'The future of Hillsborough County—and the well-being of thousands—depends on it.'
Kimberly Overman, a former county commissioner and the founder of the Housing Leadership Council of Tampa Bay, also attended and spoke Wednesday.
'By doing this, there won't be instructions to the county administrator to allocate money toward that program,' she told the Times after the meeting, 'which I find maddening, given how much of a housing crisis we have in Hillsborough County.'
Overman pushed back on council members' statements that funding from the housing department was substantial for addressing housing needs.
The county first has to commit to spending money on affordable housing. And if it does, reimbursement from the federal government often lags.
'To expect our local residents to trust the federal government's promise of providing these dollars', she said, 'is asking a lot, especially given current federal budgetary conversations that are going on.'
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