Affordable Housing Program Reevaluated

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is considering scaling back a signature program to preserve affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families as it looks for ways to trim next year's stretched budget.

The "penny for housing" program devotes one cent of the real estate tax rate to buy or otherwise preserve low-rent apartments and other housing units. Since it was adopted in 2005, the program is credited with preserving 2,200 units that might have been bought by developers for condominiums or become more costly to rent.

But some supervisors have taken aim at the program. They said they would prefer to divert some of the estimated $20 million it would generate next year to other needs at a time when the county is facing a projected $650 million shortfall. The county is also considering an increase in the real estate tax rate and dozens of layoffs to close the gap.

There is a limit to how much the county can cut the affordable housing program. About half the money is already committed to finance apartment buildings the county bought in Annandale and Reston. But $10 million of that money could reduce the need to make cuts to fire and police services or pay for food or rental assistance for families in crisis.

Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully), who has praised the program in the past, said the decline in the housing market has rendered the program obsolete.

"This program was originally intended to purchase moderately priced units that were in danger of being lost," Frey said during a budget committee meeting yesterday. "Clearly, the market has changed."

Housing advocates, however, warn that cutting it back would be a blow to the county's hard-fought effort to remain a viable place for people of all economic backgrounds to live, from grocery store clerks to public school teachers.

The penny program was an initiative pushed by former board chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D), who was elected to Congress. Housing advocates hailed it as a national model.

Although home values have fallen more than 12 percent from last year, the need for low-cost housing options has persisted. Rents have not declined substantially, county officials said, and the foreclosure crisis has put additional pressure on the system as displaced families seek less-costly housing.

The county has lost thousands of low-rent units to luxury condominiums and high-priced apartments over the past two decades. A couple of difficult budget years should not erase what progress has been made to reverse that trend, said Kevin H. Bell, chairman of the Human Services Council, a board-appointed citizens advisory panel.

"We should not, because of a temporary crisis, do away with a program that has worked and that needs continuity," he said. "If we do away with it, it will never come back."

Supervisor Catherine M. Hudgins (D-Hunter Mill) said she will oppose any attempt to scale back the program. The housing market will eventually bounce back, she said, returning the county to square one in its attempt to make the community hospitable to families of all income levels.

"We've learned that we can't rely upon the market," she said. "Our focus as a growing urban center should be, how do we keep the diversity of housing options in this area?"

Republicans John C. Cook (Braddock) and Pat S. Herrity (Springfield) campaigned recently on ending the practice of buying apartment buildings, which they called a waste of taxpayer money. They noted that a family of four earning as much as $99,000 a year could qualify for some affordable housing under county guidelines.

Even some of the program's most stalwart supporters said it might be time to scale it back, at least for now.

Board Chairman Sharon Bulova (D) said she and other board members "are discussing whether or not we should, or could, continue to dedicate a penny toward affordable housing, or if some of that revenue should be used instead to restore some of the human services and public safety programs that are on the table for reduction."