Latest news with #PCHA
Scoop
09-05-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Moves To Amend Equal Pay Act 1972 Is An Abusive False Economy
The Primary and Community Health Association (PCHA) says New Zealand's struggling health system has been dealt another significant blow that will have a detrimental impact in local communities. PCHA Board Chair Steve Chadwick says the government's fast tracked changes to the Equal Pay Act 1972 and halting progress of any existing claims is a kick in the gut to the many nurses who work in primary and community healthcare. She calls on the Health Minister Simeon Brown to show more respect for the many nurses and carers who have dedicated their lives to supporting their community. 'This government shows absolute disregard for the important role that primary and community care nurses and carers play in the health of New Zealanders,' Steve said. 'Minister Simeon Brown should be ashamed of this action. It is wrong and it is abusive.' Steve says that by halting pay equity claim action and amending the Equal Pay Act 1972, community nurses and carers who have been battling for years to close the pay gap with their hospital counterparts will have to go back to the drawing board. 'What the government is actually doing is saying to not only community nurses and carers, but also local communities is, 'You don't matter. Your jobs and your health are not a priority to us.'' The Government will ammend the Equal Pay Act 1972 to tighten the pay equity criteria, making it harder for pay equity claims to be sought. Additional to this, any existing pay equity claims will be halted and those claims will need to be resubmitted under the new and more stringent criteria. 'What is also alarming is that the reason for this action is to 'reduce the cost to the Crown',' Steve said. 'This signals that the Government is intent on crushing the health system in order to pay for tax cuts and money for landlords. This will send the health of individuals, families and communities, many of whom are already struggling under this government, into further decline.' 'That in itself is a false economy and drives false savings – while they pinch money from community services, they will inevitably have to spend more money to prop up hospital services when people become very unwell – it's completely nonsensical.'
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
56 units of housing to remain affordable thanks to Pierce County investment
Pierce County has helped purchase nearly 60 units of housing in the Parkland-Spanaway area as part of a greater effort to preserve and create affordable housing in the region. Hidden Firs is a 56-unit apartment community at 15008 A St. S. According to Pierce County Human Services spokesperson Kari Moore, the longtime owners of Hidden Firs wanted to sell the property to an organization that would preserve it as affordable housing. The Pierce County Housing Authority (PCHA) and private real-estate partner Kidder Mathews saw the opportunity to acquire the complex. Moore said PCHA applied for funding through the 2024 Rental Housing funding opportunity last spring and was awarded more than $892,000 toward the purchase of the property. The funding was a part of a $17 million collective investment in affordable housing announced by the county in March and was made possible by sales-tax revenue generated by the Maureen Howard Affordable Housing Fund. In 2023, the Pierce County Council approved the sales tax, which collects one-tenth of 1% of sales to leverage additional revenue for affordable-housing investments. The tax was named after Maureen Howard, a prominent advocate for the homeless in Tacoma who died in January 2023. Before the purchase, PCHA determined that no major rehabilitation work nor displacement of current tenants would be required, making it a turn-key, acquisition-only project. Moore said the 'readiness' of the project was an incentive for the county to invest in its preservation. According to Moore, the purchase price for Hidden Firs totaled $10.3 million. 'With 56 total units, that comes out to an average cost of roughly $180,000 per unit,' Moore told The News Tribune. 'By comparison, proposals for new construction projects of affordable housing in the last couple years have averaged about $500,000 per unit.' She said the county estimated a new construction project of 56 units could be expected to cost roughly $28 million. 'While we know that we need to create many units of affordable housing to meet the needs of our community [according to data from Housing Action Strategy], we recognize that preserving existing affordable housing is also important,' Moore wrote in an email to The News Tribune. The county's Housing Action Strategy, published in 2022, estimated the region would need to produce on average 2,300 units per year of housing affordable at or below 50% of area median income (AMI) through the year 2044 to fully meet the housing needs of current and future residents. According to Pierce County, the region's Area Median Income is about $98,200 per household. According to Pierce County's Human Services Department, the Maureen Howard Affordable Housing Fund has contributed to the creation of 741 affordable housing units since it was created in 2023. As of March 27, 253 of those units are completed, 227 are under construction, and 261 are in the development pipeline. Meili Cady, a spokesperson for Kidder Mathews, said the property would maintain lower rents through U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funding and vouchers. 'Each resident's rents will be lower than previously existing,' Cady told The News Tribune. 'The specific amount or percentage that the rent will be lowered varies based on the specific individual's income.' Hidden Firs is a low-density, tree-lined community spanning two acres. The community is in the unincorporated community of Parkland and is also on a bus line and within walking distance to grocery stores, a park and other amenities.
