Sept. 19, 2006

Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund Campaign Update

Kentucky AHTF 2006 Victory

On April 10, 2006, advocates from the “Open the Door” campaign for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF) passed House Bill 537 by a vote of 26-6 in the Senate and 66-26 in the House of Representatives, establishing an estimated $4.4 million in funding and a dedicated public revenue source for the Kentucky Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

The Kentucky AHTF had been established by the General Assembly in 1993 in response to economic conditions, federal housing policies and declining resources which adversely affected the ability of very low-income Kentuckians (specifically those earning 60% of area median income or less) to obtain safe, decent, and affordable housing. Funds are administered by Kentucky Housing Corporation to nonprofits and governments for new construction, acquisition, and/or rehabilitation of affordable housing units, or to provide a cash match required to obtain other housing-related funds. The KY AHTF does not fund case management/services to help people obtain and maintain permanent housing, due to the choice of the administering agency.

Through the KY AHTF, we have:

• created 5,700 units of affordable housing in 116 Kentucky counties,

• including 897 units in Jefferson County;

• allocated $39.3 million in grants and loans;

• through leveraging, brought in more than $93 million in other funds since 1992.

Louisville AHTF Update and Actions

• Louisville’s poverty rate is significantly higher than the national average: 22% vs.12.7%

• Our poverty is so segregated and concentrated, if we consider the old city boundaries we are 3rd in the nation in terms of concentration of poverty, just behind New Orleans

• 11,251 men, women, and children received homeless services in Louisville in 2005, not counting those did not seek services or where services were already at capacity

• 42,000 Louisvillians at immediate risk of homelessness due to excessive housing cost burden

As the result of extensive research and working with national experts, we developed and published the proposal to create $10 million in dedicated public revenue for a local AHTF serving exclusively those at or below 50% of area median income (AMI), with a set-aside for those at or below 30% AMI (such as people on disability, seniors on a fixed income, no income). The AHTF is a solution to the high incidence and concentration of poverty, gap between wages and housing costs, and lack of housing resources and dollars, in Louisville. At the same time, the city’s Comprehensive Housing Plan, developed by HPAT, also calls for a Louisville AHTF that serves those at or below 50% of area median income (AMI) and is funded by an ongoing dedicated public revenue source.

We now have more than 90 organizational endorsers and support from major employers and businesses for the AHTF and our 3 Principles:

1. controlled locally by a decision-making board that reflects the community and guarantees consumer and advocate representation;

2. mandated to serve the lowest-income population; and

3. funded through a dedicated, ongoing public revenue source.