Presidium’s proposed apartment development at 45 Brown St. looks great, and I look forward to it being built. That said, the city of Portland has no business subsidizing it, especially in the name of creating affordable housing.

In the proposal presented to the city’s Housing Committee, Presidium asks for an affordable-housing tax increment financing subsidy to get an average reduction in property taxes of over $1 million a year for 30 years. In exchange, they would restrict 40 studio apartments at $1,400 a month.

Studio apartments that rent for $1,400 a month are not affordable. A prospective renter would need to make more than $50,000 a year to be able to qualify. Meanwhile, $1,400 a month is higher than the rent of most studio apartments on the market now.

While the state statute is quite permissive, the city should expect more when considering affordable-housing TIF requests. According to a National Low-Income Housing Coalition analysis of American Community Survey data, two-thirds of renters in Portland, South Portland and Westbrook making 80 percent or less of area median income are rent-burdened (i.e., paying more than 30 percent of income in rent). Meanwhile, fewer than 12 percent of renters making between 81 percent and 120 percent of area median income pay more than 30 percent of their income in rent.

A million dollars a year is a significant expenditure – the same amount of money would pay the full rent for 60 studio apartments to house homeless persons. The city shouldn’t be using our limited resources to create homes that most renters can’t afford.

John Anton
Portland

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