Time for Manatee County to act on affordable housing shortage

The stout headwind buffeting the creation of additional affordable housing in Manatee County frustrates several demographic groups of modest means if not downright poverty.

The current community focus pegs talented millennials as an attractive and enormous population that will soon own the future. Manatee County is actively pursuing this demographic as a key to economic development and growth as millennials create businesses and employment, develop new technologies, build on old ones, and generally raise the community's prosperity and quality of life.

But weighed down by college debt while pursuing careers that promise a payoff down the road, millennials seek affordable housing among many community characteristics. An expensive apartment and condo rental market as well as home ownership handicaps recruitment efforts.

Somewhat lost in the millennial conversation are the underpaid workers in the retail and hospitality industries and other low-wage jobs, all while standing on the precipice of homelessness. The United Way of Florida produced a startling study of this demographic, calling these individuals and families the "asset-limited, income-constrained, employed," or ALICE.

The report, issued last summer and based on U.S. Census Bureau data, addresses Americans just above the poverty line and struggling to pay for the necessities -- people caught in the middle of the income storm without a life preserver. Almost 30 percent of Manatee County's population risks falling into poverty, possibly joining the 13 percent already there -- stuck in an income gap that blocks financial stability. As the ALICE report states, the large middle-class population of hard-working Americans are one financial emergency away from disaster and possibly homelessness.

The two high obstacles to improving their lot are affordable housing and child care.

In Manatee County, a monthly survival budget for a family of four includes an estimated $995 for housing and $1,117 for child care. Along with food, $531 per month, and other necessities, the total reaches $52,589 just to get by. But the county's median household income is $47,474. Half of the county's estimated 130,400 households earn less than that, with the average worker wage standing at $35,800, but many new jobs pay less.

A National Low Income Housing Coalition study put the average fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Manatee and Sarasota counties at $1,011 monthly. Thus, a family's income must reach at least $40,440 to afford housing that does not exceed the 30-percent maximum, the market benchmark set decades ago. Trouble is many families spend more than that on housing, some much more.

Six years of continuing increases in apartment rent, a boom in construction and a tight rental market have been a blessing to builders erecting luxury and market-rate complexes. The market collects tenants who are willing to pay $1,200 and higher, out of reach for low-wage workers and single professionals just embarking on a career.

At a workforce housing presentation to county commissioners by millennials a year ago, an oft-repeated comment pinpointed the problem: Housing is too high in Manatee County and income is too low. Plus, affordable housing is all too often not livable, with neighborhood safety an issue.

Adding to the pressure is the supply of affordable units is lagging behind the growing number of low-wage employees who need housing. Among millennials, affordable workforce housing ranked as one of the top three priorities.

But apartment developers consider market forces. While the demand for workforce housing is high, the return on investment doesn't match that of higher-rent units.

Potential solutions to this dilemma apparently are not enough. Manatee County government provides an array of programs to incentivize the development of affordable housing. Those include helping developers obtain relief from county and educational impact fees and planning building and engineering review fees; fast-tracking the permitting process; tapping the county's Housing Trust Fund for the development and rehabilitation of affordable housing where 25 percent of the units meet the definition of that term; density bonuses and other enticements.

The county's "millennial team" offered up other potential and meaningful solutions in speaking to commissioners last year. The most significant one is essential: changing land-development regulations to authorize greater intensity and flexibility. Speaking at a three-day conference for local millennials, county Commissioner Betsy Benac expressed agreement with approving higher densities.

At a March housing workshop, commissioners heard another idea -- providing subsidized, income-limited, rent-limited affordable housing.

Affordable-housing shortages plague communities across the country. Some governments are tackling the problem head-on. In Florida, for example, Pasco County approved a plan to acquire houses for homeless people. Collier County is considering a new tax to fund the new comprehensive plan to address the issue, the centerpiece of which is prompting developers to build more workforce residences.

Let's see action on this pressing issue here in Manatee County.

This story was originally published April 10, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Time for Manatee County to act on affordable housing shortage ."