As Mayor Sylvester Turner’s time in office draws to a close, his administration has begun scrambling to spend a $112 million TIRZ-backed bond.
. In limbo is the future of the Houston Community Land Trust and the demographic of homebuyers it serves. The program’s funding is in the crosshairs because it has been slow to move families into homes, the city explained.The families who would suffer were on the lower economic rungs of the ladder and needed help more than most.Houston area’s median income
The land trust money could end up going to other city initiatives, which largely target middle income homebuyers. Other programs included in the mayor's goal of building 3,000 homes include “We’re having conversations with board and staff about what to do if the land trust is not an option,” he said. Without the land trust, the nonprofit could help families making $70,000 and above achieve homeownership, which he acknowledged was also needed.Median incomes in the neighborhood range from $16,000 to $44,000, according to recent census tract estimates. "We did it to help longtime neighbors who are on the verge of being displaced.
Ashley Allen, the executive director of the Houston Community Land Trust, hoped the pilot would pave the path to using the land trust not only for homebuyers but also for current homeowners as a way to prevent displacement. Such a program could have large implications for low-income neighborhoods that are seeing their property taxes surge.
“I think the argument to decrease our funding should not be based on previous productivity numbers as that was largely out of our control,” Allen said.
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