Here is an interesting article written by DALE WHITE and published in the Herald-Tribune (heraldtribune.com). It has bearing on Sarasota County real estate.
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Pushing Affordable Housing

Manatee County to offer developers incentives to build cheaper homes

By DALE WHITE

MANATEE COUNTY -- Faced with a skyrocketing housing market that is pricing many working families out of home ownership, the county will offer developers various incentives to build affordable homes.

And if that doesn't work, the county may force developers to build cheaper homes or help pay for them.

The incentive program unveiled by the County Commission on Tuesday signals the biggest push for affordable housing ever agreed to by the board. And with home prices rising every month and voluntary programs shown to be largely ineffective elsewhere, some commissioners said the plan doesn't go nearly far enough.

"I really don't think we're there yet in terms of accomplishing anything meaningful for this community," Commissioner Amy Stein said.

Stein and Commissioner Joe McClash said Manatee should consider ideas that are in the works in Sarasota County. Commissioners there are considering making developers include affordable housing in their plans or pay into a fund that helps build low-cost homes.

The county is also creating a nonprofit trust that will own land set aside for affordable housing and impose price controls on the homes built on the land.

"I think we need to look seriously at a land trust," Stein said. "Efforts to achieve affordable housing without a land trust can be in vain."

Other commissioners, and several builders who participated in Tuesday's workshop, said any discussion of a build-or-pay rule is premature.

"I think we may be going a dangerous route by making things mandatory in the beginning," Commissioner Donna Hayes said. "We can always tighten things up later."

Commission Chairman Ron Getman arranged for the discussion about affordable housing after meeting privately with representatives of the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, Gulf Coast Builders Exchange, Bruce Williams Homes and de Morgan Homes.

Getman wanted ideas about how to motivate more developers to build affordable housing to counter an ever-widening gap between housing prices and wages.

As of June, the median sales price of a home in the Sarasota-Bradenton market hit $336,800 -- a 39 percent jump from a year ago.

To make the $3,044 monthly payments on a home at that price, a household would need an annual income of $121,760, county Planning Director Carol Clarke said.

Much of the county's work force -- from a cashier earning $13,520 a year to a police officer earning $31,179 -- is getting priced out of opportunities to become homeowners, Clarke said.

County planners said the incentives would be intended to get more homes in the $110,000 to $192,000 price range.

Currently, families are unlikely to find much selection in that price range, said Chamber President Bob Bartz. When he recently checked real estate listings, Bartz said, he found just seven homes in Manatee priced below $200,000.

Bartz said employers have complained to the Chamber about job candidates who refuse to move here after they find out about housing costs.

Getman's group came up with the incentive plan, which calls for developers to make at least 25 percent of their homes affordable for low- to moderate-income workers.

In exchange, builders will get faster approvals, fee refunds and the right to build more homes per acre.

The commissioners said they are willing to try incentives and watch results.

"It's a start," Getman said. "Now we need to get to that next comfort level."

End of Article