On Thursday, February 25th at 4:00 pm, there will be a public hearing at City Hall to discuss the Affordable Housing General Obligation Bonds (GO Bonds).
To give you a little background, in 2006 Austin voters approved a $55 million bond program for affordable housing. In 2007, the City Council elected to use the majority of these funds for rental projects and the next largest portion for homeownership projects. Fast forward to today and 75% of the funds have been committed. This leaves about $15 million yet to be allocated.
Of the remaining amount, the majority of the funds come from the Homeownership funding bucket, but the city is considering moving them into a different funding bucket.
It is very important that the city continues to focus these funds on homeownership. To date, Austin Habitat has been awarded $2.4 million in GO Bond funding for the purchase and development of lots, which will allow us to construct 75 homes in the Sendero and Meadowlake neighborhoods. We need more money to put more low-income families in stable, permanent housing and break the cycle of poverty.
Your voice needs to be heard to tell the city leaders to continue to use these funds for future low-income homeowners. Please come out on February 25 and help us make our message loud and clear!
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