New Orleans is poised to see a massive influx of taxpayer funding for local affordable housing projects after voters approved a charter amendment during Tuesday’s election.
Over 75 percent of the city voted “yes” on the amendment, handing supporters an easy victory.
The approval green lights new language for the city’s charter that orders the city council to create a new trust fund dedicated to affordable housing projects. At least 2 percent of the city’s annual budget will go into the fund starting in 2026.
Supporters say that should come out to roughly $17 million in local funds a year, which would be the largest investment of its kind in affordable housing in the city's history.
The funds will have set uses. They can go towards the creation of “affordable rental housing, preservation of affordable rental housing and the creation of affordable homeownership opportunities,” according to the measure.
Administration of the fund will fall on the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority and Finance New Orleans, two quasi-government housing development agencies. The city council will also create an advisory committee to help the agencies pick what to spend the money on.
The city council will have the final say on how the money is used each year.
The proposal saw some pushback ahead of Election Day. At least one prominent nonprofit research group, the Bureau of Governmental Research, came out against the measure.
Their main concern is the rigidity of a charter amendment, said Rebecca Mowbray, BGR’s CEO.
“That is very, very hard to change in the future,” she said. “There are potential problems about how to give future city councils and mayors the flexibility they need to deal with whatever is in front of them.”
Many cities across the country fund affordable housing initiatives through ordinances, which don’t require voter approval and can be modified year-over-year, Mowbray said.
“It's unusual to put such a level of detail in a framework document like a city charter,” she said. “We view that as a risk even as we agree on the need to do something about housing because it is a real problem in the city.”
The trust fund is badly needed, supporters say. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than half of renters and one in three homeowners struggle to cover their housing costs in the Big Easy.
