Low-income housing rejected
At a Special Meeting of the Navasota City Council Monday, Feb. 21, council members rejected Resolution 711-22, to support an application submitted by Piedmont Apartments, LTD, to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA). The application was for Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) for a 48-unit multifamily apartment complex at 1512 Piedmont Road in Navasota. Councilman Josh Fultz was not present.
The “public” comments
Before presentation of the agenda item by Development Services Director Lupe Dios dado, residents unfavorable to the Resolution echoed a variety of concerns. Some of those were a lack of social services and job opportunities for low-income residents which “keeps them in poverty,” and concern about higher taxes for “more police, more fire, more health, more schoolteachers that are multilingual.”
Navasota Housing Authority chairman Dianna West moreland recapped some of the issues often associated with low-income housing - the drain on law enforcement and the impact to income demographics used to attract businesses to Navasota. It was noted that Navasota’s student population is already 79% economically disadvantaged.
According to Westmoreland, Navasota already has seven units with 333 apartments and 2.3 times the state average of units per capita supported by housing tax credits. She added the lack of middle-income level housing in Navasota prevents teachers from living here.
Regarding local needs, Westmoreland said, “Our list from HUD for potential residents is well over 100 but they’re mostly from Houston and the big cities looking for a cheap or free place to live. We’re not allowed to take 100% local residents.”
Citizenship not required
Former city manager Brad Stafford felt “a low-income tax credit unit will be a step back,” and said, “There is not a citizenship requirement for anybody who lives there. With what our country is going through today, I think that’s a travesty and I think we should really take that to heart.”
Following the comments, City Manager Jason Weeks advised council that staff was not making a recommendation of support for or against the Resolution, only a recommendation “to act.”
Qualifiers
Wade Bienski with Homestead Development Group, LTD, representing Piedmont Apartments, LTD, and developer Emanuel Glockzin provided an overview of the project.
Based on resident reaction, Bienski thought the Tax Credit Program was misunderstood and said, “We would almost consider our development serving middle income families. The standards we apply for the income range, we do mostly 60% median income limits, that’s almost $39,000. That might be considered low income but starting teachers in Navasota, starting first responders, they would qualify for those units.”
Bienski said that eight of the units would be market rate and open to any income range and stated it is not a voucher program or public housing. Bienski said, “These families have to earn income to live here. They have to make double what the rent is to even qualify to live in this apartment development. This isn’t everyone coming in with a Section VIII voucher or a free handout. They have to make money to qualify.”
Units for “working families”
According to Bienski, 85% of the units are onetwo bedrooms, designed handicapped accessible with seniors in mind and on the bottom fl oor. A 55-plus senior-restricted unit was being considered on the same tract at a later date.
Homestead Development Group, LTD has units in Athens, College Station, Copperas Cove, Corsicana, Huntsville, Kilgore, Nacogdoches and Palestine. Responding to crime concerns, Bienski said that in their units, crime is no greater than in any other development. He added that their other developments have been so well received, they’ve been asked to build second units and referred to a letter of support from the City of College Station.
Emphasizing that the units are for “working families,” Bienski added, “I think there is a misconception of what we’re trying to do compared to some other low income project.”
High rent burden in Navasota
As for why Navasota, Bienski said “Navasota is ranked in the top 60% of all the cities in the state for a high rent burden. That means that a higher proportion of families that live here are paying more than 30% of their income in housing expenses.”
There was debate about whether or not $39,000 is low income and the accuracy of the per capita number. Also discussed were how tax credits are different from building a regular apartment complex, who gets the tax credit, and that the application was brought to council too close to the March 1 deadline to allow time for research.
Glockzin explained that for this $10 million development, the tax credits can be sold for $7 million. They’ll get a $2 million loan from Prosperity to build a $10 million devel-opment and there will be no debt service when sold to limited partners for about 15 years.
As to who gets the tax credit, City legal counsel Cary Bovey said, “The investors get to use those tax credits to off set their otherwise taxed income. It’s taxpayer money at the federal level.”
Saying there is no limit on what renters could earn after moving in, Glockzin stated, “This is medium income, aff ordable income and not low income.”
Rent ranges from $500-$800 as opposed to mar-ket rate at $1,000. Bienski stressed that the devel-opment will help people making mid-$30,000 “get started and not pay more than 30% of their income for rent.”
Before discussion closed, Weeks provided starting salary figures of $40,000-$41,000 for new police officers and firefighters and $43,632 for Navasota ISD teachers, indicating they had surpassed the qualifying $39,000 threshold.
View city council meetings in their entirety at www.navasotatx.gov/ city-council/pages/ meeting-videos.