The Flagler County Commission this morning approved a proclamation and heard a presentation on the county’s affordable housing efforts, coinciding with revelations last week that the Legislature again broke a promise not to raid the state’s 30-year-old affordable housing trust fund and use its money for other purposes, short-changing needs across the state.
The state established the Sadowski trust fund in 1992 as a dedicated revenue source from documentary stamps tax collections for affordable housing. Thirty percent of revenue was intended for the State Housing Trust Fund, and 70 percent of it for the Local Government Housing Trust Fund, namely underwriting two programs–the State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program known as SHIP, and the rental assistance program known as SAIL, or State Apartment Incentive Loan. Inversely, SHIP is administered locally by cities and counties, and SAIL is administered by the state, through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation.
The fund lived up to its promise for the first nine years. Then in 2002, 2005 and 2006 the raids–thefts out of the fund’s purpose–began, and starting in 2009, raide became an annual certainty, including $404 million in 2009 alone. In total, between 1993 and 2020, the fund took in $6.2 billion. Only 57 percent of that was appropriated for affordable housing programs. The rest–$2.19 billion–was raided (or “swept” out, according to the state’s preferred euphemism) to subsidize other programs or tax cuts. Just weeks ago, legislators raided yet another $100 million.
What’s left of the money is leveraged locally with private sector loans, resulting in up to $4 to $6 for every $1 of state funding. “Fair housing builds the strength of our community by giving each one of us a fair shot at finding our place here in the community to think to build and to dream for our futures,” Devrie Paradowski, Flagler County’s Housing Program Coordinator in the county’s Housing Services division said during the County Commission’s segment on a fair housing proclamation.
The county receives funding every year through the Sadowsky trust fund to meet housing needs of some of the very low and moderate income households, and to preserve and expand the availability of affordable housing. Last year the county received $766,144 in SHIP dollars. The county anticipates $1.1 million for the coming year. The money is used as incentives through down payment assistance loans, rehabilitation of housing for some, replacement housing for others. There’s also homeowner education and counseling to help prospective home buyers through the steps to a sound mortgage. The county’s affordable housing advisory committee is the bridge between the county and the developer community to get that done. The county division is also monitoring 180 loans.
“We have to spend most of our funds on construction activities. We have to spend a majority of them on homeownership activities, which is why we don’t spend a lot of them on like rental assistance,” Paradowski said.
In 2020, county SHIP funds helped 20 new homeowners, prevented three foreclosures and what would have been four homeless cases, and helped start hardening construction on nine homes. There was no money in 2021. The Legislature had allocated $225 million to affordable housing programs. Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the entire amount despite billions of dollars in federal aid to the state from Covid relief packages. The same year, the governor recommended raiding $225 million out of the fund to subsidize other uses unrelated to affordable housing.
“That wasn’t the first time that’s ever happened. But it should be the last time that is going to happen because the funding is now recurring funding,” Paradowski said.
“There is a 40 percent return on investment for every single dollar that we spend from the Sadowski Housing Trust Fund,” Paradowski said. “So this benefits the state but it also benefits us locally when we’re using these funds here in our community,” she said, referring to a 2021 study by the Regional Economic Consulting Group conducted on request by the Florida Association of Local Housing Finance Authorities. (See the study in full below.)
The study was commissioned in light of the recurring legislative raids of the Sadowsky Fund of both the SHIP and SAIL programs.
In 2021, the Legislature allocated only $209.2 million for affordable housing–$147 million for SHIP, $62.5 million for the rental assistance program, a far cry from what the fund could afford, if its dollars weren’t raided.
“A combined appropriation for SHIP and SAIL of $648.3 million in FY 2021-22 by the Florida legislature, and $3.5 billion in total development costs, Florida would see 30,473 units newly constructed or rehabilitated, 48,199 jobs created, and an economic impact of more than $7.3 billion,” the Regional Economic Consulting Group’s analysis found. Even accounting for significantly inflated figures typical of such economic analysis, the findings still pointed to substantial economic benefit. “With the economic activity created, $245 million taxes would be created, with $127.2 million going back to the state. SAIL tends to carry a larger dollar for dollar economic impact; however, SHIP can produce more units, and provide more housing at a cheaper per unit cost. Both programs are vital for providing housing for low-income to moderate income Floridians, and as a boon economy wide.”
But last year legislators opted to permanently split the Sadowski trust funds three ways, channeling two thirds of the money to clean water projects and flooding mitigation, even though those projects have nothing to do with the intended purpose of the fund, leaving just one-third of the fund’s generated revenue for affordable housing. Legislators pledged that the funding would be recurring.
The pledge didn’t last. In the legislative session just ended, lawmakers took out another $100 million from the Sadowsky fund, the Orlando Sentinel reported, lowering the amount of money available for rental assistance.
“The transfer from the state housing trust fund, made during budget negotiations during the last week of session, leaves the rental assistance program with $53.25 million for the coming budget year that begins July 1,” the Sentinel reported. “Language was slipped into the back of the budget bill during the last week of the session, transferring $100 million from Sadowski into the Hometown Hero Housing Program, for down payment assistance and closing costs, to be established and run by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation.”
That program does not yet exist.
Toward the end of today’s commission meeting, Denise Calderwood, a former candidate for the commission who remains involved in affordable housing issues, rang an alarm she’s been ringing for a few years. “I just hope and pray that all of you gentlemen educate yourself in the status of housing in Flagler County and truly understand that we have a housing crisis here for the people who are on low income, disability or regular social security,” Calderwood said. “They cannot afford to stay and remain in Flagler County and we are going to have a homeless crisis on our hands, if we don’t do anything. The affordable housing developers that have come to Flagler County, those apartments are not affordable. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard anybody call you, complain to you. My phone rings off the hook on a 24-hour basis. And recently the county staff had told me about five people who were being evicted from the Town Center apartments, who were put in there with county assistance, because it was affordable when they first signed on. It is not affordable now. The rent starts at $1,200 a month. The average Social Security check in Flagler County is $889, disability. That’s the average, the average Joe, and most of those people don’t have pensions. So when we talk about fair housing, it’s across the board.”
In a crowning irony, April is national Fair Housing Month.
The Florida Housing program Analysis:
Click to access Economic-Analysis-2021.pdf
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Dennis C Rathsam says
TAKE IT TO THE BANK!!!! THERE WILL NEVER BE AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN PALM COAST>>>>>THAT SHIP SAILED MANY MANY MOONS AGO!!!!
G A says
Keep electing republicans and continue to watch this state slide into the republican created cesspool. Make your anger count at the voting booth.
LetsBeReal says
Not Republicans fault. Everything went up in costs after Joe Biden was elected. Jimbo99 is correct. BTW there are 100,000 more Republicans living in Florida now. Going be a red wave.
Jimbo99 says
The Lies of Biden-Harris. Home Prices are higher, Fed raises interest rate, rent increases. There’s nothing affordable about Biden Unaffordable Housing. cars, Inflation on gasoline, inflation on food. Build back better is designed for the masses to eat losses & pay more across the board for Biden to spin his lies of saving America & Democracy, the planet Earth & the human race. 82+ million voted for this ? This isn’t Putin, this isn’t the Ukraine war. That’s just a war that Congressionals have invested in arms manufacturers as an off shore/overseas Ponzi Scheme to get wealthier on human misery. Any wage increases aren’t even a down payment on unaffordable Biden-Harris lies.
FL has a glut of housing, any housing shortage is a shortage of affordable housing, it’s not for lack of inventory, it’s a gouge of having a roof over your head under Biden-Harris.
https://www.fox13news.com/news/more-than-1-6-million-homes-in-florida-sit-vacant-highest-in-u-s-study-says
Jimbo99 says
“Toward the end of today’s commission meeting, Denise Calderwood, a former candidate for the commission who remains involved in affordable housing issues, rang an alarm she’s been ringing for a few years. “I just hope and pray that all of you gentlemen educate yourself in the status of housing in Flagler County and truly understand that we have a housing crisis here for the people who are on low income, disability or regular social security,” Calderwood said. “They cannot afford to stay and remain in Flagler County and we are going to have a homeless crisis on our hands, if we don’t do anything. The affordable housing developers that have come to Flagler County, those apartments are not affordable. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard anybody call you, complain to you. My phone rings off the hook on a 24-hour basis. And recently the county staff had told me about five people who were being evicted from the Town Center apartments, who were put in there with county assistance, because it was affordable when they first signed on. It is not affordable now. The rent starts at $1,200 a month. The average Social Security check in Flagler County is $889, disability. That’s the average, the average Joe, and most of those people don’t have pensions. So when we talk about fair housing, it’s across the board.””
And I’m on record of warning everyone in Flagler county of the Unaffordable housing lies of Biden-Harris over the past 2 years. If 82+ million voted for Biden-Harris, they were duped into believing the lies of Affordable Husing. With any of these new apartment complex, the bait & switch is a lower 1st year rent. The next lease is unaffodable rent under the lies of Alfin growth in Flagler county for affordable housing. I get spammed constantly, emails, text messages to “sell the car for cash”, “sell your house for cash”. Some FL based, others nationwide corporations buying up properties to “FLIP” for profit. When they tie leases and rents to Govt. subsidized housing, rents will increase as the cost of living index rises for inflation. That will happen way more often than once a year. Just like healthcare is going to increase as Flagler county grows & builds hospitals. But guess what, Covid was a lie, they won’t be able to fill the ICU with more Covid fraud & abuse without another government grant like 2020-2021 was. This is the new normal, global economy, 20 percent and more that are considered poor will always be the other 80%’s trickle of income from the wealthiest down. And Biden will spin the next 2.75+ years like he did the first 1.25 years of this 1st term. These aren’t predictions, it’s just the reality of watching it happen since the 1980’s with the Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama & Biden swamp of politicians spinning false narrative of hope. The bill has come due really. Trump tried to get things to at least priced more affordably. I throw out the sub $2/gallon gas as the Covid scamdemic, but the relative prosperity was never as bad as Bush & Obama on this side of the 21st century. Politicians are targeting the poor & fixed income elderly at this point. Who in their right mind would sell their home, to buy in the inflated Biden era. If the price of the home has nearly doubled, the fed raising the interest rates is just signing the poorest on to pay more for something they were paying less for. Biden can’t spin that lie as better for anyone. And that’s why inflation has gone rampantly higher, those that can charge moore will charge more to get more of the masses to finance their new additional family & their lifestyles. The horse in front of the cart is pay someone first so they can pay you, otherwise it’s deficit commitments to go deeper into debt and for the masses that never works, for the wealthiest it builds their wealth. The 1% prospers, the poorest just become homeless. Calderwood is on record that is what is happening & I did more than predict it would happen, I told you before Biden was elected that it would happen. but 82+ million believed Trump was a racist homophobe. And what’s sad, the media is protecting Biden like he’s some kind of a victim, when he’s orchestrating the whole thing and it was his intention walking into an election.
Early December 2020, Biden was in a meeting with the NAACP leaders, he said. “You have to appeal to the 74+ million voters that didn’t vote Biden, what’s in heir best interest without really giving them anything”. With that rant & chest thump, he really intended Build Back Better to exclude 74+ million Trump voters. Turns out he seems to be excluding even his voter support base. Ask Biden when the war in the Ukraine is ever going to end ? It’s not. Congressionals are too heavily invested on Wall Street to care about Main Street, because every 2-4 years we vote for the same pool of politicians. no wonder Holland resigned locally as Mayor. Alfin was glad to step in and reside over council meetings to give all of themselves raises. It’s not for exemplary performance, the battle cry is over inflation.
tulip says
According to this article, a whole lot of money was given to Florida/Flagler county to build affordable houseing. Seems like DeSantis kept a lot of it to use for other things so don’t blame Biden. This has been ongoing for a few years.
JC says
Jimbo99 you need help….there’s more to life than copying/pasting stuff on a news site.
Richard Smith says
Affordable housing in palm coast lol no such thing. My next door neighbor pays $1500 a month for a three bedroom duplex. Glad I payed cash for my home 11yrs ago before all this craziness started…
Palm Coast Citizen says
Once I learned that these funds came from an increase in the document stamp tax for this specific purpose, I wondered why more citizens were not aware of the sweeps. The increase in doc stamp taxes is levied on residential and commercial real estate. When the funds are not used for their intended purpose, it just doesn’t feel right. Why increase a tax on a service for a specific purpose if we aren’t using the revenue for that purpose?
M. Talley says
People who can’t afford to live here in Flagler County may consider moving to an area/home which they can “afford”. Prioritizing flood and waterway mitigation is responsible governance. Flood and water way mitigation is likely overwhelmingly preferred spending by taxpayers.
Denali says
You are so right! The grandparents who worked their butts off and retired at 60 are now 85 and still living on the Social Security benefit of $750 each that was determined 2o years ago. The savings they had is dwindling. Sure their house is paid for but the taxes keep rising, water and utility rates are going through the roof and now we raise their trash bill by $9 a month. Gas and groceries are, for them, astronomical. They are lucky because they have good health, otherwise they would be deciding between eating and prescription drugs. They do not have any money to go look for a new place they can “afford”; let alone actually move.
But you are so right, these people should just move somewhere that we cannot see them. The government should spend its resources on “flooding and waterway mitigation” (whatever that is) just because you decided to move to a swamp that is only 20 feet above sea level and gets over 50 inches of rain annually. So right, so entitled.
Devrie says
Or to fix their homes. A lot of folks don’t realize how these Sadowski funds are used in a bigger picture to increase the economic viability of our whole community to completing home rehabilitation for homeowners like senior citizens or people who have gained disabilities.
When the homes are rehabilitated or repaired for people who cannot come up with $15,000 to replace a roof to avoid losing insurance and to have their homes re-sealed and painted, it improves the housing stock of our community, improves the number of naturally occurring affordable housing in rotation, reduces the risk of homelessness, and improves the property values for the other citizens living in the community.
Mark says
What does our State Representative and Senator have to say about this?
VOTE the GOP crooks out.
Trickle On Economist says
The word affordable is subjective in a capitolistic society. Since when did we just start calling nearly all things now affordable? Florida’s the place to be. Flagler County is a great place to be. The capitolism model of supply and demand is in full swing here. Can’t afford to live here? Move. These United States of America have no limitations on where its citizens can live.
In the meanwhile, yeah, the state needs money for the other things required to deal with all these people moving here. Stuff ain’t going to fix itself. “No new taxes!” you scream? “No Build Back Better!” you sheepishly spew? Okay. This is what that looks like then.
Rising inflation would not exist if you simply stopped buying all the bullshit. A pandemic hit and you all ran right out and bought $100,000 RVs that get single digit mpgs. $3,000 stationary bikes. $1,000 cell phones. Convinced yourself you needed a brand new car and a boat to boot. You think the price of that traditional piece of shit new Ford would be 25% higher if no one rushed down to the dealerships? No. Americans could not just cut back on the crazy. HAD to have that new expresso maker. Oh, but the chip shortage! Oh, but the truckers! Oh, but the ports are backed up! Bullshit! Stop buying crap and there’d be plenty of chips and intermodal would be the same as its always been.
Let’s call a spade a spade. It’s subsidized housing, not affordable housing. Calling it affordable housing implies that the houses we all bought and lived in before the pandemic is NOT affordable? Wages are up. Social Security benefits are up. Free educational opportunities for our kids are plentiful – far far more than when we were young. Your home values are in the stratosphere right now. Can’t afford it? Bananas cost too much? Sell it, pocket a wad of cash, and rent a mid-century bungalow in Mississippi and eat all the bananas you want. This is the way of capitolism.
For all you people vomiting nonsense about Trump or Biden, deplorables or woke, you’re dumber than a sack of wet mice. Its the economy, stupid. The people selling all of the overpriced shit you keep buying are richer than ever and laughing at you all the way to the bank.
Mary Kay Hayward says
Trickle, your words are harsh, but true. I won’t pretend to have the ability to compete with brilliant statisticians who study world economics for decades to come up with a projection for the future. But in the end, forecasting anything is an educated guess. The ONLY thing that has 20/20 vision is hindsight. Buying an overpriced cup of coffee (aka triple caramel macchiato with extra blah, blah) is not necessary. This is just an EXAMPLE of the many, many items we CAN live without IF times are hard in our lives right now. The corporations count on the predictability that NO MATTER WHAT, consumers will still buy (that coffee), even if the price goes UP. And they’re right and richer for it. Economics is based at the very core on the consumer’s buying habits. I didn’t blame Trump for the (hindsight) FACT that toilet paper was hoarded by consumers, and I don’t blame Biden that gas prices are high while consumers are back to leisure traveling (space travel, transportation of goods, etc.) after a PANdemic. Corporations have power and will do what is best for their shareholders, not the consumer. Consume less, and we all just may take some power back to afford the things we NEED such as medications and health care costs, which are back to “affordable” in my life, for sure. Final thought…..if housing is so “unaffordable” why are the numbers of new home builds dominating our landscape? Because the prediction is consumers will buy/rent them even at exorbitant prices? If the prediction is wrong, back to recession we go? Then there’s another subsidized bailout for the corporations? Will we ever learn?
Alonzo says
Hi, Jimbo99. I guess all Dems are bad. All the white Rrpubs are perfect. Start looking at reality dude, Repubs are so screwed up they can’t think for themselves. Most of them followed Trump lies about the 2020 election saying it was rigged. They are poor excuses for the Amerocan people. Some of them wa t Putin to be Pres. of this country, poor Trump robots, afraid to think for themselves. They will not get my vote. If they win the midterms many people of color will not have a right to vote. Just saying .