Fund will help maintain low-income housing in region

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Chomz, a female tabby cat, has lived with her owner Natalie Jackson at the Stratford apartments in Ashland for 17 years. A new fund will help maintain more than 600 affordable housing units like the Stratford in Jackson County.Bob Pennell

A total of $7 million in public and private funds will help keep affordable housing in Oregon — including 667 apartment units in Jackson County — from being sold at market rates.

Thirty years ago, Southern Oregon was a pioneer in using grants from the federal Rural Development program and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for building low-income apartments. But those contracts, which mandated that rents remain affordable, are expiring and many of the structures are falling into disrepair. This makes them prime candidates for resale to the mainstream market, said Ashland senior planner Brandon Goldman, a former housing program specialist.

"It's daunting," said Goldman. "It's the beginning of the money needed to save these vulnerable people, given the statewide need. There's a great demand for these funds."

The state and the Oregon Housing Alliance each put up $1 million, with another $5 million donated from the Meyer Memorial Trust and the Collins Foundation to help stave off the sale of 7,300 rent-subsidized apartments during the next five years, according to a news release posted by the Housing Alliance on its Web site.

The Legislature also kicked in $4 million for the Oregon Affordable Housing Tax Credit program.

Locally, ACCESS and the Housing Authority of Jackson County will use the funds for many units "in danger of going commercial," said Betty McRoberts, Housing Authority development director.

Using limited partners in the private sector, the Housing Authority will take advantage of the new funding to "fill the gap," as they obtain state bonds, bank financing and state low-income tax credits, said McRoberts.

The funds also will be used to fix up aging units, a cost often beyond the means of owners who are renting them out at reduced rates as low-income housing, said Goldman.

"These apartments are worn down and need rehabilitation," he said. "A private developer would convert them to market rate units and rent them out."

"These funds will be available for weatherization, roofing and such so that nonprofit affordable housing providers can afford to buy them."

Louise Dix, neighborhood resource coordinator for the city of Medford, called the money a "stopgap" that will help keep the apartments affordable for the near future.

"It doesn't sound like a whole lot of money," she said, "but a lot of housing is up for grabs and it's good up-front money. This will help. ... It takes a long time to pull together tax credits and bond funding. The object is to maintain affordability and keep them under HUD."

As the affordable housing contracts expire, the new funding "is very significant for our valley because here are some of the first properties in the funding cycle and they can pull out," said Dix. She noted that the city of Medford contributes some of its Community Development Block Grant funds to ACCESS and the Housing Authority to help maintain affordable housing.

Those living in subsidized apartments include the working poor, elderly and disabled, said the Housing Alliance Web site, noting that a fifth of Oregonians can't afford housing and still have money left for food.

The money was provided with the creation of the Housing Acquisition Fund in Senate Bill 5556 during the 2008 legislative session, with all of Jackson County's legislators in support. The tax credit was House Bill 3619.

John Darling is a freelance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at jdarling@jeffnet.org.

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