Demands
Renter’s dignity act
1: Actual Affordable Housing
The city currently spends millions of our taxpayer dollars to subsidize the construction of luxury apartments. This must stop.
City leadership must change their definition of ‘affordable’ to mean ‘affordable, after utilities, to individuals and families earning 40% AMI in Salt Lake.’ As of March 2021 This would limit ‘affordable’ apartments to $616 for a one bedroom. This threshold is to be used when determining the allocation of any and all city funds, including RDA and TIF funding. Existing developments must fall in line with this new definition to continue receiving incentives from the City. The current limit sits at around $1250 before utilities and other fees.
2: Less Luxury Units
There is no shortage of luxury units in the city.
All new housing developments, regardless of taxpayer investment, must set aside at least 20% of their units for affordable housing. Developers must replace affordable units with similarly priced (within 5% monthly rent) units when destroyed by new developments. Both of these should be prerequisite for approval of projects by zoning and planning bodies and the city council. This can be enacted by using inclusionary zoning.
Any project receiving incentives, tax breaks, or funds of any kind from the city must set aside an additional 20% (40% total) of their units for affordable housing.
3: Stop Criminalizing Homelessness
The city must come up with a real solution for the housing crisis. Homelessness is not a crime. All abatements must stop.
City Leadership must end all Camp Abatements, reallocate funds set aside for these operations to open safe injection sites, needle exchange programs, and provide those sleeping outside with vital survival items. The solution to homelessness is housing, not brutality and neglect.
What effect are these demands going to have?
If we can get these demands passed, it will increase cheap housing stock, forcing competition and lowering rent. It would also create housing catering to working class people, instead of the tech and finance crowd the mayor and local real estate developers are hoping to concentrate this city with.
“Where are you getting your numbers?”
More details:
Affordable is federally defined as: costing 30 percent or less of a household’s income after utilities. This would place affordability right around the ‘living wage’ figure defined in the state report on affordable housing.
Source: https://jobs.utah.gov/housing/reports/documents/affordablehousingreport.pdf
What is the living wage defined as in Utah? $11.60 an hour
Source: https://jobs.utah.gov/housing/reports/documents/affordablehousingreport.pdf )
What is AMI? “AMI” stands for Area Median Income. In Salt Lake 61,600 is the AMI for individuals and $87,900 is the AMI for families,
What is ‘Affordable’? “The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines an “affordable dwelling” as one that a household can obtain for 30 percent or less of its income. But this varies from city to city.”
Source: https://www.vox.com/2014/4/10/18076868/affordable-housing-explained.
A redevelopment agency is a subset of a local government designated responsibility over a specific area of town, with the task of encouraging the growth of the property tax income. This
Law allowing the creation of Redevelopment agencies and TIF. https://le.utah.gov/~2019/bills/static/HB0070.html
Relevant line for us: Line 70 3) “Affordable housing” means housing owned or occupied by a low or moderate income family, as determined by resolution of the agency.
