With Mayor Ed Murray‘s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) report due at the end of the month, it’s a good time to note that the developers have hijacked the definition of “affordability.” Here is why 80% of AMI is too high and we need to subdivide the Mayor’s goal of 20,000 units at less than 80% of AMI, or that’s exactly what we’ll get: 20,000 units affordable only to people making over $60,000 and no one in the service economy able to live here.
Housing affordable seniors and people with disabilities living on Social Security is classified as 0-30% of the area median income. Workforce housing aims at those making minimum wage $11/hr to $22/hr., typically in the service economy, 30-60% of AMI, up to about $48,000 for a single person. At 80% of AMI, older market-rate units exist, while housing at <60% cannot be built without a subsidy. Any program targeted at 80% of AMI and below will end up with rents affordable only to those who can afford 80%. This is one reasen the current Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE) program fails to provide much of any affordable housing. (Another is affordability expires in only 12 years. It should be the economic life of the building, say, 40 years.)