The Chapel Hill Town Council’s decision to ask for a penny on the town’s tax rate should be lauded as it will enable the town to take definitive and faster action to help assuage the affordable housing problems plaguing Chapel Hill.
The Town Council’s decision indicates that members are fully cognizant of the fact that in order for effective change to occur the town must have money to implement any plans that would help Chapel Hill residents find affordable housing.
Hundreds of people and families are currently on the waiting list for affordable housing and many wait years to be assisted with housing.
As of right now, the town is more or less beholden to a potential developer coming in to help solve the problem of affordable rental housing. In addition, federal funding has been decreasing, and as a result the town cannot keep up with the demand.
With the estimated $729,000 that will be garnered from the tax increase, the town will have the freedom of a reliable source of revenue and be able to direct toward affordable rental housing as they see fit.
Currently, a specific proposal of what to do with the tax increase has not yet been decided. This means that different stakeholders have the opportunity to be involved in the process.
In order for Chapel Hill to enact meaningful change related to affordable rental housing, it will need to include UNC. A huge proportion of those who live in public housing work for the University and UNC Hospitals. Additionally, many of them cannot afford to live in Chapel Hill. Without involvement from UNC or any collaborative conversations many aspects of affordable rental housing will not see change.
The penny tax increase is a good place to start but there are many more steps to be taken.
