| To: |
Ana Cortez, City Manager |
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| From: |
Sharon Haugen, Community Development Director |
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| Subject: |
Consider final passage of an Ordinance amending the Helena City Code to allow for the discretionary waiver of City fees on affordable housing projects to be constructed in the City of Helena. |
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Present Situation:
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The Helena City Commission established as a priority the creation and/or rehabilitation of workforce housing into the Helena community and developed a housing strategy to address some of these issues. The consideration of the waiver or partial waiver of building-related fees is part of this affordable housing strategy. Other mechanisms such as zoning changes, establishment of a land trust, and surplus underutilized property are also actions being considered by the Commission. On December 9th, the Commission approved the first passage of a resolution that would allow the Commission to waive a portion or all of any fee imposed by the City for an affordable housing project. During the December 9th meeting, representatives of two local nonprofits testified as to the advantage the fee waiver would have to their affordable housing projects. Jacob Kunz and Greg Wirth, representing Habitat for Humanity, stated the waiver of all or a portion of the fees would allow Habitat to spend limited resources on more materials. Andrew Chanania, representing RMDC, discussed that waiver of fees from the City makes local projects more competitive. The fee waiver will assist in keeping the per-unit costs lower to satisfy the funding agencies. The City has limited resources to support affordable housing, and the waiver program outlined in this ordinance will provide the opportunity to assist in addressing the problem of housing affordability. |
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Background Information:
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The purpose of this ordinance is to establish a mechanism for the City of Helena to provide an incentive for affordable housing units within the City. The mechanism being proposed is the waiver of building related fees. |
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Proposal/Objective:
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The purpose of this ordinance is to establish a mechanism for the City of Helena to provide an incentive for affordable housing units within the City. The mechanism being proposed is the waiver of building related fees. |
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Advantage:
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Cost reductions in any form (fee waivers being one of them) can help projects more than additional capital. Many developers are running into a problem with the per-unit cost limit. When the developer exceed the per-unit cost limit on a project, the developer gets penalized with the next competitive 9% tax credit project. This might even have an impact for other projects proposed in the City. The assistance provided by the City for affordable housing also meets the housing goals identified in the Growth Policy. |
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Notable Energy Impact:
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None identified |
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Disadvantage:
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The waiver or partial waiver of building related fees will cause a decrease in revenue for the building division. The City Commission will balance the benefit of a fee waiver with the other factors the Commission deems relevant. The loss to the Building Division and possible other Departments will be offset by the community benefit associated with the projects by providing the affordable housing. |
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Notice of Public Hearing:
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Attached
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