I also am in favor of the levy. Our church (Prospect UCC) did
a focus
group on it in February and we decided to support it as a congregation.
The need for affordable housing, especially for families, is great.
I would
encourage MPNA to support it as a group.
Yes definitely support the Housing Levy.
To be perfectly honest, you all need to read the levy fine print and be clear whether the funds for the kinds of levy projects you want in your community would actually be allowed there or not. Some funds will be restricted to the "distressed communities".
Yes, endorse!!
hi andrew, i do support mad-miller's support of the levy....
Count me among those supporting an endorsement of the Housing Levy
I fully support endorsing the housing levy. We need more affordable housing in Seattle.
It would be a mistake to let this levy fail.
I would encourage people to volunteer in the community and
help others, but
I cannot support another tax levy. My property taxes have been
increasing
at an unacceptable rate over the last 7 years we have been in
our home. Why
not encourage the formation of non-profit organizations that pursue
donations, volunteer time, etc, to help build affordable housing?
One
example along these lines is Habitat for Humanity. I imagine there
are
other creative solutions possible as well. We all need to think
outside the
box when it comes to adding more taxes.
(and, after reading Chuck's comments:
Thanks for the additional information, that really helps clarify
things. I
support the MPNA endorsement of the levy.)
Thanks for forwarding the email and I checked out the website
as well.
As always, Miller Park residents have very thoughtful questions
and ideas.
I, too, appreciate the notion of thinking out of the box. The
levy in
general will help groups in Seattle like Habitat as there is a
program for
first time homebuyers that Habitat can hook up with to the extent
they want
to. While they still do some projects with all volunteer labor
and
donations, I believe they have also moved to doing projects with
public
funds in order to increase the number of units they can do and
deal with
costs of development. Due to land costs and zoning it will be
hard, but not
impossible that a project like that would occur in Miller Park.
Perhaps
some sort of townhouse type development. Volunteer and self help
multi-family housing just hasn't panned out as a successful program
anywhere
I am aware of. Even if it is not going to happen in Miller Park
or Capitol
Hill I still think it is worthy of our support for implementation
in another
neighborhood.
It also seemed part of our neighbor's concern was taxes. I
can relate
to that as I pay my property tax each year. I know every increase
can hurt
a limited pocketbook. I would like to point out that the proposed
levy will
cost the owner of a house assessed at about $320,000 (the Seattle
average)
$45 per year. Since this is a renewal of the levy passed in 1995
the
proposed levy will cost about another $14 over what you are paying
now.
Also, senior citizens can apply for an exemption. Again, it is
not my
intention to make light of a tax of any amount, only to point
out the scale
of this particular tax.
I would be glad to continue the dialogue on alternative ways
to create
affordable housing.
chuck weinstock
Finally, as you note without the renewal of the Housing Levy
in
September, affordable housing production or preservation will
become a mere
trickle in the entire city. Our ability to build mixed income
buildings
like the Miller Park Apartments or turn around problem properties
will grind
to a halt.