by Bonnie Mann

With the increasing cost of housing, cities are looking for incentives to attract and retain employees.
Housing packages as a fringe benefit can be as important as salary considerations in many jurisdictions, especially for police officers, teachers and emergency response personnel.

This was the message of the cities of Irving, Texas; Southfield, Mich.; Colombia, S.C.; and the host city of Charlotte, N.C., which presented their housing programs in a workshop on affordable housing at the 2005 Congress of Cities.

A key component of these housing programs, particularly in large urban cities, is to strengthen and stabilize inner city neighborhoods that have aging housing stock, especially those that have dilapidated and abandoned buildings. These depressed areas have created unsafe living conditions, many becoming havens for crimes and other hazards. However, the presence of home-owning police officers in these areas has begun to make positive impacts on revitalization efforts.

Municipalities also have implemented these programs because of their desire to reduce employee turnover and improve employees? morale and performance.

Each city has different eligibility requirements for employee participation with programs tailored to the policies and needs of the communities. The housing incentives usually consist of homeownership counseling, grants and forgivable loans. Cities also donate land in development sites or structures in designated areas.

For example, in Irving, funds are leveraged with federal money from Community Development Block Grant and HOME programs. In Columbia, more than a dozen banks have signed on with the city to provide assistance in its homeowner programs for police officers. Southfield provides interest free loans for city employees to purchase homes and pays for closing costs, down payments and home improvements in newly purchased homes in the cities.

Charlotte offered many examples of housing programs that support current residents and encourage in-migration. Since 1997, Charlotte has placed homeowners in 2,400 homes in 87 designated urban neighborhoods. Using federal and city funds, the program, House Charlotte, provides 10-year deferred and forgivable loans to qualified residents. Thirteen police offers have participated and 45 lenders have signed on with the city to leverage millions in the city.

These programs are successful and replicable models for local elected officials to consider in addressing housing issues for employees and other residents in their communities.

Details: For more information about these and other affordable housing programs, contact Bonnie Mann, affordable housing project coordinator, at (202) 626-3125 or by e-mail at mann@nlc.org.