It’s hard to say if anyone was listening, however, as the latest recommendation from the community bond task force now calls for only $100 million to be split between housing, economic development and homelessness.
The recommendations for the bond money are divided among five categories: streets and transportation ($375 million); park and recreation ($350 million); flood and erosion control ($75 million); housing, economic development and homelessness ($100 million); and critical facilities $200 million.)
These recommendations will soon be brought back to the main community bond task force, where there could be some changes, Bryan Tony, one of the principal organizers for the group, said. If it doesn't happen at the community bond task force level, Tony hopes more funding can be set aside in the bond for housing through City Council.
Ashley Brundage, executive director of housing stability with United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and a member of the Dallas Housing Coalition, served on the subcommittee for the bond task force. She said the coalition was advocating for $275 million to be allocated for housing, economic development and homelessness. About $200 million would have gone toward housing, $35 million for homeless solutions and $40 million for economic development.
As for the Dallas Housing Coalition's proposed $200 million, Tony said $80 million would have gone to homeownership production with a focus on missing middle housing (condominiums, townhomes, duplexes, etc.) Another $70 million would’ve been used for new targeted area investments, with $20 million carved out for the city’s International District. About $50 million would be used for housing preservation. Some $10 million of that would be used for single-family-home repairs and owner-occupied housing. The other $40 million would go toward rental housing rehabilitation."We’re going to lose our workforce and we could end up failing at some point in time." – Ashley Brundage, Dallas Housing Coalition
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Tony said it was disappointing to see how the funds for housing were slashed in the recommendations. “We knew that coming into our advocacy this go around, given the city’s historical underinvestment in housing, it would be difficult to go from zero to $200 million in housing as a first stab at this,” Tony said. “But we do remain optimistic that there is support within the community and among City Council for a greater investment in housing, and we are remaining committed to our $200 million and advocacy for housing and our $35 million for homeless solutions as originally recommended by the community bond task force subcommittee,” he said.
Surveys conducted by the city show that housing affordability remains one of Dallas residents' top three priorities, Tony stated, but in the latest recommendation housing is one of the least-funded priorities. “Our work is cut out for us, but we’re hopeful that we can realign these in the future,” he added.
Now that $100 million is being recommended to be allocated for housing, homelessness and economic development, $87 million would go toward housing. Of that, $67 million would go toward development and preservation specifically aimed at housing for people making 50% or less of the area median income (AMI). Dallas lacks over 33,000 affordable rental units for people making at or below 50% AMI.
About $10 million would go toward permanent supportive housing to be carried out in partnership with the Office of Homeless Solutions. Another $10 million would go into homeownership development. As for the rest of the $100 million, a little over $11.4 million would go to economic development. And nearly $1.6 million would go to the Office of Homeless Solutions for upgrades and rehabilitation of The Bridge.
City Council is expected to receive the next presentation on the community bond task force’s recommendations on Dec. 6, and a vote is expected in February. In the meantime, Tony said he’s hoping members and supporters of the coalition will continue to advocate for the $200 million for housing. “We’ll continue to make our case as much as possible,” he said.
Brundage said considering affordable housing is imperative to the city’s future.
“I just think it’s important for us as a city to consider what we want to look like in the future,” Brundage said. “If we don’t start to systematically invest in affordable housing across the entire city, we’re not going to be the city that we look like today. We’re going to lose our workforce and we could end up failing at some point in time." She said people are already starting to move out of urban cores because of the availability of remote work. “If we make it easier for people to leave and go to other spots by not having housing they can move into, it’s only going to cause us to fail quicker.”
