10 Reasons for an Arlington Housing Authority

Unlike the City of Alexandria and Fairfax County, Arlington has no public housing authority. A housing authority has unique powers under Virginia law that could be used to help preserve affordable housing for residents of Arlington County. We, the Arlington Green Party and Arlington residents urge all Arlington voters to vote to allow the creation of a housing authority on the November ballot.

The ten top reasons we need a housing authority in Arlington:

1. Preserve Existing Affordable Units.
The redevelopment and housing authority can directly preserve and own apartments and land in Arlington to preserve for current and future low income residents, the elderly, the young, public employees, disabled people among others. About 60 percent of the 20,000 affordable rental units then in Arlington in 2000 have disappearedBvictims to condo conversion, demolition and gentrification. Just to recover these Alost@ 12,000 apartments is a huge task now unmet by the county government.
2. Ensure Housing for Public Employees.
The authority can own and operate housing for Arlington public employeesBsuch as teachers, policemen, and fireman--who could then live in our community, and help retain and recruit public employees for expensive Arlington. Now just 10 percent of firefighters, 25 percent of policeman and about 45 percent of teachers live in Arlington. The Arlington school board, and fire and police departments cannot own and operate housing on their own under Virginia law, but an authority can do so.
3. Be a Vehicle for Self-Sustained Financing.
The authority can easily and efficiently issue long term tax exempt bonds to finance the acquisition of low income housing which can then be paid off over time through rents paid by the tenants. The county board recently cut $6 million in funding from its FY 2008 operating budget which would have built group homes for frail elderly and mentally challenged. These $6 million should have been funded through long term bonds and repaid over time.
4. Act as a Land Trust.
The authority will act as a land trust to keep land and apartment buildings from being developed, preserving the historical integrity and green space around the older garden apartment buildings now threatened with development
5. Operate Subsidized Housing Units.
The authority can directly receive Federal Government funding to build and operate subsidized housing and receive rent subsidies.
6 .Streamline the County's
Response to Low Income Housing Crisis. The housing authority will reduce waste and duplication in Arlington's scattered housing programs. The authority will become the central group of the county government's response to the low-income housing crisis. County staff's and citizens' expertise on housing is now wastefully scattered among different departments and commissions, such as the housing commission, tenant-landlord commission, planning commission, community development block grant commission, and historic landmark commission. The housing authority will be run by one voluntary citizen board of directors appointed by the county board, and supported by existing professional county staff now spread out in many different departments and working at cross purposes.
7. Protect Renters.
The housing authority can require developers to sell threatened rental apartment complexes to it for preservation instead of demolishing and gentrifying the buildings, and evicting renters from Arlington. The authority has the power to condemn and take property from landowners who are going to demolish the property and evict tenants or who are operating slum apartments.
8. Finance Non-Profits that Operate Affordable Housing.
The housing authority can directly operate and finance apartment units that are too large for the small existing nonprofit housing providers in Arlington or provide financing to existing non-profit organizations that could operate the housing on behalf of the authority.
9. Facilitate Cooperation Among Groups Providing Affordable Housing.
A housing authority reduces needless duplication among existing non-profit housing organizations in Arlington that end up competing for a small, inadequate amount of funds. The authority sets priorities, and provides the funding in a comprehensive way for all types of low income housing in the county rather in the chaotic, unplanned way the half dozen small nonprofits now operate.
10. Advocate for Affordable Housing.
The housing authority operates publicly as an advocate to insure that the long term capital needs for preserving land and rental housing in Arlington are placed squarely in the middle of other county government capital projects, such as building new schools, recreation facilities, and libraries. The county government currently has virtually no funds to acquire and preserve existing rental housing.