Duncan More Than Doubles Affordable Housing Fund; Proposes Dedicated Funding Source

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Contact: David Weaver, 240-777-6530

For Immediate Release: March 7, 2001

Duncan More Than Doubles
Affordable Housing Fund;
Proposes Dedicated Funding Source

Despite fiscal constraints, County Executive Douglas M. Duncan today announced that he will more than double the County's affordable housing fund as part of his upcoming budget, raising to $15 million dollars the amount of money in the Housing Initiative Fund and helping to leverage at least $90 million in additional public and private funding. Duncan also unveiled a proposal to provide a dedicated funding source for affordable housing efforts, asking the Council to adopt a joint resolution earmarking 2.5 percent of the County's property tax for this purpose.

"Everyone in our community should have access to a clean, safe, decent and affordable place to live, and making sure that this is a reality is a top priority of mine," said Duncan, who will address an affordable housing meeting tonight in Rockville being organized by Action In Montgomery (AIM). "In order to address our current affordable housing crunch, I believe we need to provide more resources and have a dependable, dedicated funding source that guarantees support for affordable housing even in tough economic times."

The resolution sent to the County Council today calls for "an allocation from the General Fund to the Montgomery Housing Initiative Fund (MHI) of an amount sufficient to ensure the availability in the MHI Fund of $15 million or the equivalent of 2.5 percent of actual General Fund property taxes, whichever is greater, for the purpose of maintaining and expanding the supply of affordable housing in Montgomery County."

The additional money going to the MHI Fund may be used to:

Provide housing for 100 individuals threatened with homelessness or persons with disabilities needing housing and counseling,

Help rehabilitate 30 run-down, abandoned homes into homes for families wanting to own their first home,

Help repair 150 apartments and make them safe, attractive places for young children, families and the elderly to live,

Allow the County to build 200 new affordable housing units, and

Assist non-profit and for-profit organizations in purchasing 150 existing apartments and make sure they stay affordable for existing residents.

"By making this bold step, Montgomery County initiates the most significant effort in 25 years to address our County's housing needs, said Sister JoAnn Villadermoros, co-chair of Action in Montgomery. "This action moves to substantially meet the needs of thousands of our County's residents, from families employed in the service sector to teachers and police officers."

AIM is a multi-faith organization of congregations from throughout Montgomery County and is a member of the Industrial Areas Foundation, the oldest and largest community-organizing network in the United States. Locally, AIM's sister organizations are BUILD (Baltimore), WIN (Washington, DC) and IAC (Prince George's County). Members of AIM have been working with Duncan for the past year to address the affordable housing issue in Montgomery County.

Tonight's affordable housing meeting being sponsored by AIM and attended by Duncan will be held from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Jerusalem-Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church in Rockville.

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