Nassau County outreach program on the affordable housing problem

Submitted by Suanne  Z. Thamm

Reporter - News Analyst

July 26, 2018 1:05 p.m.

Nassau County and Fernandina Beach are just two of the communities around the nation trying to find solutions to the growing problem of housing needs for workers and their families.  With the high cost of land and rising construction costs, home ownership and even home rentals are becoming difficult to find for those on whom our local economy relies to educate and care for our children, respond to health and safety emergencies, work for small businesses and make the county an award-winning tourist destination.

Sadly Florida does not have a stellar track record in addressing the problem statewide.  Theyattempted to address the need in 1992 by creating the William Sadowski Housing Trust Fund,  a state revenue designated for affordable housing. It uses document stamp surcharges on real estate transactions to help develop more reasonably priced housing in Florida.  However, legislators and the Governor have continued to raid this fund to pay for other, what some might call “pet,” projects.  To date, some estimate that more than a billion dollars has been siphoned away from its intended purpose, earning the legislature criticism and cries of outrage from communities around the state.

The Nassau County Board of County Commissioners recognizes that all persons should have access to safe, decent and affordable housing. In March 2017, the Board approved Resolution No. 2017-99 which established the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC) to review current affordable housing options and to identify opportunities for establishing future affordable housing options. The Resolution includes Committee member names and the criteria they represent in accordance with Florida Statute, Section 420.9076.

The AHAC meets the third Wednesday of each month at 4 p.m. in the Commission Chambers located at 96135 Nassau Place, Yulee, FL in the James S. Page Governmental Complex. Meetings of this committee are open to the public.  The work of the committee may also be followed on the county's websiite at www.nassaucountyfl.com/housing.

Recently, under the guidance of County Commissioner Justin Taylor (District 5) who chairs the committee and Adrienne Burke, Assistant Director of the county Planning and Economic Opportunity Department, the AHAC initiated a series of public programs designed to educate the public on the affordable housing quandary and to offer suggestions or ideas to meet the challenge of providing workforce housing in Nassau County.

Bill Lazar, Executive Director St. Johns Housing Partnership

About two dozen people attended the first program in the series on July 18, 2018 in the Peck Center Auditorium in Fernandina Beach.  Bill Lazar, Executive Director of the St. Johns Housing Partnership, engaged audience members in a presentation and discussion of sustainable living housing challenges in Northeast Florida, drawing heavily on his experience and knowledge gained over more than 30 years of working on these problems in both Duval and St. Johns counties.

Lazar said, “We all need shelter; everyone needs a place to live.”

“Affordable housing” is a term that varies with location.  It is based upon median income for the particular county or city. According to the Florida Housing Coalition,

“Affordable housing is safe and decent housing. If the housing stock in a community is substandard it should not be counted as a unit of affordable housing. In general, the income eligible household is said to be living in affordable housing when it spendsno more than 30% of its income on either rent or mortgage payments. There is an assumption that if a very low to moderate income family is spending more than 30% of its income on housing costs, the family will be cost burdened and not have enough money left over to pay for items such as transportation, food, clothing, and healthcare.”

Lazar presented the slide below to explain the situation in Nassau County:

He explained that there is a housing continuum that shows that with time and increased earnings, lower income workers generally move from assisted or subsidized housing to home ownership.  As lower income housing becomes vacant, new families can move in and also move up in the continuum.

Lazar encouraged audience members to be bold by using common sense approaches to commit a reasonable amount of public and private resources to accomplish three major goals:

1. Provide financial literacy training and counseling to prepare the workforce to take advantage of opportunities.
2. Develop new opportunities for home ownership and rentals.
3. Include programs to stabilize the county’s existing housing stock.

In explaining the work of the St. Johns Housing Coalition (SJHC), Lazar highlighted efforts to rehabilitate existing housing for Seniors and the Disabled.  He said that in making repairs and upgrades, accessibility features are built in to allow people to age in place as an alternative to relocating them to public facilities.  He added that these projects are not “extreme makeovers,” but rather smaller, practical “fixes” to structures designed to prevent injuries and promote health and wellness.

According to to a 2018 report issued by the Florida Housing Coalition, independent living for Seniors and the physically disabled saves taxpayers $20,000 per person annually.  For those with developmental disabilities, the savings is $80,000 per year.For more information about the Florida Housing Coalition, click here.

In addition to improving the existing housing stock, the SJHC works with its partners to build new rental properties and single family homes. Lazar stressed the importance of building partnerships with government agencies, non-profits and the business sector in promoting and building equitable, affordable communities.  Part of this is providing financial counseling to help families develop a sound plan that will lead to homeownership with time.

Lazar reminded the audience that while solving the affordable housing problem will cost money, failure to respond to the housing crisis creates many other problems that can be even more costly.  If people cannot afford to live in a community, they may choose to live and work elsewhere, depriving local businesses of the workforce they need to stay in business.  Or, if workers commute from housing in other jurisdictions, they will add to traffic congestion and increase the costs of road maintenance.  Substandard housing leads to public health and safety problems as well, costs for which must be borne by local governments.

Adrienne Burke addresses audience

In speaking for the Nassau County Affordable Housing Coalition, Adrienne Burke thanked attendees at the first public program on this important topic.  She announced that the next program in the series to be held on September 19 will feature speakers from Jacksonville Area Legal Aid talking about how they can help with legal issues that might be affecting people’s abilities to stay in their homes.

Check the county website or the Fernandina Observer for the yet-to-be-determined time and place of that program.

Editor's Note: Suanne Z. Thamm is a native of Chautauqua County, NY, who moved to Fernandina Beach from Alexandria,VA, in 1994. As a long time city resident and city watcher, she provides interesting insight into the many issues that impact our city. We are grateful for Suanne's many contributions to the Fernandina Observer.