Voters in Austin, TX, will have the opportunity to approve a ballot referendum that would dedicate $250 million toward affordable housing. Proposed as part of a larger local bond measure, “Proposition A” would dedicate funding to land acquisition, rental housing development, affordable homeownership, and home repair programs. The Austin City Council and Keep Austin Affordable, a coalition of local nonprofits and community members united by a desire to increase affordable housing in the city, view the referendum as a strong step forward towards addressing Austin’s serious lack of affordable housing.
Proposition A would provide $100 million for acquiring land for community interests like new affordable housing and $94 million for rental housing development. The remaining $56 million would be split between income-qualified homeownership and home repair programs. This measure would dwarf the city’s most recent affordable housing bond measure which committed $65 million in 2013.
Austin remains one of the most highly income-segregated metropolitan areas in the U.S., and low income residents, who primarily reside in the eastern portion of the city, are increasingly facing displacement pressures. Proposition A is the most recent effort by the City to fight displacement and increase affordability. The City joined the All In Cities anti-displacement network in developing the Austin Strategic Planning Blueprint, which addresses displacement, promotes resident diversity, and calls for 60,000 newly constructed homes for households with incomes at 80% of area median income and below.
Read the bond measure that includes Proposition A at: https://bit.ly/2ym0WqC
Read the Austin Strategic Planning Blueprint at: https://bit.ly/2AdGl8Y