Hillsborough County has allocated an additional $5.1 million to address the shortage of affordable housing in the county.
Officials with Hillsborough County tell us there are 1800 people moving into the county each month, and they need to have affordable areas to live.
The need for affordable housing is across the entire county from the University area, to Town 'n Country and South Hillsborough.
The county is asking for citizen input on strategies such as down payment or rental assistance, subsidized housing projects, tiny homes, zoning restrictions, co-living arrangements and other options.
Residents are encouraged to register before the meeting here: register here.
Forum information:
- Date: February 5, 2019
- Time: 6:00 PM to 7:45 PM
- Location: Robert W. Saunders Library located at 1505 Nebraska Avenue Tampa, FL 33602
ABC Action News is told that 20% of people in Hillsborough County pay more than 50% of their income for housing.
After Tuesday's meeting, officials will go to the Hillsborough BOCC in two weeks to give their recommendations.
Hillsborough Organization for Progress & Equality (HOPE) tells ABC Action News that the five million dollars will help affordable housing, but its not enough for decent housing.
The community organization wants long term funding for affordable housing.
Pastor Steve Kauffman, Chair of HOPE's Affordable Housing Committee said in a statement,
The $5 million of local funds HOPE fought for is a good down payment. Yet we want our County to establish a Hillsborough Affordable Housing Fund withlocal, dedicated, public funding of $10-$20 million annually to create, rehab and preserve decent housing affordable for working families and seniors, prioritizing families with very low incomes at 50% and below AMI (that is about $32,000 for family of four). These families are contributing to our economy working as LVNs, teacher's aides, cafeteria workers, in retail, as custodians, at Busch Gardens and other jobs in our service industry, and deserve to have the security of a decent home they can afford to raise their families"
