This afternoon marks the final public input session for Athens-Clarke County’s Affordable Housing Investment Strategy. The meeting will be held from 6:00 – 8:00 at the ACC Library.
The new plan was developed by an outside consultant in conjunction with ACC staff. It calls for an array of new initiatives, including the development of a local housing fund and the creation of a down payment assistance fund.
The report outlining the strategy calls for the expenditure of around $5 million dollars yearly on affordable housing initiatives. That amount, the report estimates, could lead to some 1,500 new affordable housing units over ten years.
About $1.7 million of that $5 million could come from the federal government. The remainder would be funded locally, either from a yearly appropriation in the county’s budget or the creation of new taxes or fees.
Expanding tax allocation districts, or TADS, like the mall area redevelopment are also a funding option, as well as private philanthropy.
That report, however, was met with skepticism from some commissioners, who questioned whether the report had anything new in the way of initiatives.
