Pitkin County Commissioner Patti Clapper expresses concerns Tuesday about spending funds to assist employees that don’t live or work in Pitkin County.
The Pitkin County commissioners overcame their wariness of financially assisting people beyond their borders and committed $1 million Tuesday to an innovative affordable-housing program.
The county is investing in the Good Deeds program that will be launched in July by the nonprofit West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition. Good Deeds will help people in the region buy a free-market home in return for placing a deed restriction on it and limiting annual appreciation.
The housing coalition will provide up to 30% of the funds for the purchase of a home at the closing of a sale. It can be used for homes priced up to $1.5 million between Basalt and Aspen; up to $1.2 million between Glenwood Springs and the El Jebel areas; and up to $800,000 between Parachute and Glenwood in western Garfield County. Eagle County is offering a similar program that covers the Basalt-El Jebel area.
“Our goal in our strategic plan is to do 30 homes by 2026, which we believe we could do with about $6 million,” said April Long, executive director of the housing coalition.
She remained upbeat about the potential of the program despite some of the commissioners expressing concerns about the idea during a 45-minute meeting.
“This is the cheapest way for you to help a family,” Long said, noting the much higher cost of acquiring land and building affordable housing. “While it feels limiting, right now it’s the best thing we’ve got.”
Commissioner Francie Jacober was concerned that the program helps middle-class rather than lower-income families. Commissioner Patti Clapper was concerned that Pitkin County’s money could be used to house families living and working outside of the county.
Jacober said she realizes middle-class families need help obtaining affordable housing, but she preferred targeting lower-income families. Clapper said the thought of helping people that live or work in areas that aren’t contributing to the program bothered her.
“My concern is that, as an elected official with a fiscal responsibility, we’re putting in how much money that is Pitkin County dollars that is servicing people who aren’t members or within this organization,” she said, referring to membership in the housing coalition. “Not that there aren’t needs there, but it’s difficult to take our dollars and spend them where they have a need but they don’t want to come to the table — their governments, not the people. That to me is a hard sell to my constituents.”
Pitkin County Commissioner Greg Poschman outlines his worst-case scenario but ultimately supports the Good Deeds program on Tuesday.
Commissioner Greg Poschman said his “worst-case scenario” would be if Pitkin County dollars helped someone working in oil fields of western Garfield County obtain housing when Pitkin County is trying to electrify the power source of facilities.
Long replied that all member jurisdictions are wary of committing funds without assurances of specific benefits in their immediate area. But she urges them to look at the bigger picture.
“Our region needs to be a little more fluid,” Long said. “We’re in a bind, and we’re trying to look at it a little bit differently.”
Most affordable-housing programs in the Roaring Fork Valley and Lower Colorado River Valley are directed within the specific government’s jurisdictions or are tied to employers such as the Aspen Skiing Co. The housing coalition was created to take the approach of the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority, where governments unite for a common goal and make parochial interests secondary.
“We are serving the people that serve us,” Long said. “I am positive that Pitkin County and its residents will benefit from dollars that are spent in this program that [enhances] affordable housing in this region.”
The coalition has received commitments from Aspen ($450,000, which has to be verified in July), Snowmass Village ($250,000), Carbondale ($100,000) and Glenwood Springs ($200,000). Basalt will be asked to contribute later this spring. Garfield County is taking a wait-and-see approach to membership in the housing coalition. Towns in western Garfield County haven’t been approached yet even though the housing coalition’s service area stretches from Aspen to Parachute. Eagle County is a partner that already offers a buy-down program.
Long also sold the program as a way of helping the region’s beleaguered “missing middle.” Those are households that have too high of an income to qualify for deed-restricted housing but don’t make enough to buy their own free-market housing. They are typically dual-income households making more than $150,000.
“Nothing is available to them,” Long said. “That’s why we’re losing them. Living here places them in the really high rental market.”
The Good Deeds program is designed to help some of those households get into home ownership while locking up existing free-market homes with a deed restriction. In return for getting up to 30% assistance in the purchase, the home buyers would agree to a restriction of 3% annual appreciation.
“What we’re talking about doing is quick because we need housing right now,” Long said.
To qualify, buyers must be employed by a business with a physical presence in the region. Remote workers for out-of-region employers won’t be assisted.
Another benefit of the program, Long said, is it avoids the political and fiscal challenges of building affordable housing.
The Pitkin County commissioners were asked to contribute $2 million to Good Deeds, but they were comfortable committing only $1 million at this time. They will contribute $719,000 remaining in uncommitted funds from the county received from the American Rescue Plan Act as well as $281,000 from the county’s general fund.
“I am not comfortable going with the full $2 million, not with all the issues we have with other affordable-housing programs,” Clapper said. “We could always chip in more money at a later date.”
The commissioners were collectively concerned about spending all their housing funds before a specific plan was created for adding affordable housing at the Phillips Mobile Home Park, which the county owns. It has the potential for expansion.
Poschman, Clapper, Jacober agreed with their fellow commissioners Kelly McNicholas Kury and Steve Child that they would consider contributing up to $1 million more for the program if the housing coalition successfully collects funds from other local governments. It would be a type of challenge grant.
Long accepted the challenge: “I’ll get Garfield in as well. Just you wait,” she said with a laugh.