Summit County votes for affordable housing

This summer, when Summit Housing Authority Board decided to put a funding question on the ballot, the polls did not look particularly good.

The proposed combination of a new sales tax and impact fees - fees assessed on new construction based on square footage - was the most popular scenario among respondents, but garnered support from only 47 percent of those surveyed.

The sales tax increase of 12.5 cents per hundred dollars will raise about $1.4 million. The graduated impact fees start at zero for smaller units and go up to $2 per square foot for units bigger than 5,000 square-feet, generating an expected $2 million the first year.

With projected funding of up to $3.4 million the first year, the new Multi-jurisdictional Housing Authority (MJHA) hopes to gear and build up to 50 units of affordable housing per year.
Read the full article by Bob Berwyn . . .