Longmont officials are looking to expand the number of vouchers available to help low-income residents get permanent housing, while keeping an eye on how much the venture will cost the city.
Housing vouchers should be directed toward those using Longmont Housing Authority facilities, city council members agreed Friday during a wide-ranging discussion on affordable housing needs in Longmont. Council members also agreed certain populations need to be targeted for vouchers but not at the expense of residents the program serves.
Council members agreed that increasing the number of housing vouchers by 15% a year is a laudable goal. The proposed move is to help hard-working residents who otherwise can’t get into rental properties in an out-of-reach housing market, they said.
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“There will always be a need for housing, we can’t solve the problem for everyone,” said Mayor Brian Bagley. “We have to take whatever dollars are available from the feds … the state. We need to take whatever money and make it go as far as we can.”
A voucher expansion has to be weighed alongside the expense of managing a bigger program, including the possibility of adding personnel, council and staff members said.
“We cannot break the bank,” Counci member Susie Hidalgo-Fehring said. “If we increase the number of vouchers, what will that cost us in other areas?”
City staff members will review the voucher recommendations from Friday’s city council retreat and bring back a plan at a later date
Currently, Longmont has issued 396 housing vouchers at a cost of $1,100 each. The city is allocated 500 Housing and Urban Development vouchers, according to city staff members.
A vast majority of residents using vouchers — 87% -— have incomes at least 30% below the area median income,or AMI, said Kathy Fedler, Longmont’s housing and community investment manager. A city’s AMI is often used to measure eligibility for housing vouchers.
At least 42% of families receiving vouchers include children and 53% of those households are headed by a female, according to a consultant’s survey conducted in Boulder County in 2019. Elderly residents head up 25% of households receiving vouchers and 24% are headed by a disabled person, the survey states.
One possible source of new funding for vouchers is from the federal American Rescue plan, introduced to help communities recover from COVID-19, said Councilmember Joan Peck. Boulder County is expected to get over $63 million. , according to the news site Patch.
Longmont remains woefully lacking in affordable housing units, said City Manager Harold Dominguez. The city report -— delivered to the city council on Friday -— states that there is a shortage of 2,100 units renting less than $650 a month.
Council members said the city needs to look at partnerships with agencies and builders to increase the housing stock.
“Creativity should be part of the conversation,” said Councilmember Tim Waters.
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