Affordable/Workforce Housing Workshop March 1, 2023 School Board - With Palm Beach County & Housing Leadership Council of PBC
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Affordable/Workforce Housing Workshop
March 1, 2023 School Board
With Palm Beach County & Housing Leadership Council of PBC
High-performing A-rated District
State of Housing
In Palm Beach County
Tools in Our Housing Toolbox
2
HOUSING NARRATIVE
● Workforce housing is defined as housing that is reasonably priced for families
whose incomes are within 60 to 140 percent of the County's area median
income as reported by the United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development and adjusted to family size ($42,600 to $99,400, respectively, for a
family of four).
● Depending on the funding source, the units generally target households having
60% to 140% of Area Median Income.
● In general, the income eligible household is said to be living in affordable
housing when it spends no more than 30% of its income on either rent or
mortgage payments.
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6
Palm Beach County Snapshot
2017-2022
• Trends:
• The County’s population grew by 4.6% (from 1,426,772 to 1,492,191)
• The number of businesses increased by 17.4% (from 56,066 to 65,811)
• PBC record low unemployment 2.2% in December 2022
• Total nonagricultural employment grew 3.3% in 2022
• Leisure/hospitality saw the biggest gains in employment in terms of jobs added
in 2022
• Effects on affordable/housing:
• Nationwide logistical supply chain issues
• Rise in construction costs
• Low housing supply - high demand
• Wages are not keeping up with the rise in home prices
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Housing Price Compared to Income
Median housing price and median household income 2017-2022
In 2017, a median
priced SF home
cost $330,000
In 2022, a median
priced SF home
cost $571,000
PBC Average
Annual Wage
$70,720
Household Income Housing Price Source: U.S. HUD / Broward & Palm Beaches Realtors Association
5 6
What is Affordable Housing?
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What is Workforce Housing?
• Housing for those who earn 60% - 140% of the Area Median Income (AMI)
• This Program requires developers of certain market rate housing
developments to produce a percentage of workforce housing units
• More than 3,070 workforce housing units are either under development or
constructed
Low Income Moderate-1 Income Moderate-2 Income Middle 2022 Income
(60%-80% AMI) (>80%-100% AMI) (>100%-120% AMI) (>120%-140%)
Household Range $54,180-$72,240 >$72,240-$90,300 >$90,300-$108,360 >$108,360-$126,420
Sales Price $189,630 $243,810 $297,990 $352,170
Minimum Buyer 2.5% 3.5% 3.5% 3.5%
Contribution %
Maximum Subsidy $51,200 $48,672 $44,698 $35,217
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Assistance
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Palm Beach County Housing Programs
for Residents and Developers
• Department of Housing & Economic Development (DHED)
▪ Purchase Assistance with/without rehabilitation
▪ Foreclosure Prevention
▪ Owner Occupied Rehabilitation
▪ Emergency Repairs
▪ Single Family New Construction
▪ Developer Rental Assistance Program
▪ Homebuyer Assistance Program
• Community Services Department
▪ Rental Assistance
▪ Emergency Shelters
▪ Rapid Re-housing 8
Additional Palm Beach County
Housing Initiatives
• Impact Fee Assistance Housing Program
• Interest earned from Impact Fees collected to assist affordable housing
developers with Impact Fee Credits
• Infrastructure Sales Tax Program
• Approved in 2016 by Referendum
• $25.5M dedicated to Extremely Low & Low Income Housing Units
• Workforce Housing Program (Inclusionary Zoning)
• This Program requires developers of certain market rate housing developments
to produce a percentage of workforce housing units
• More than 2,920 workforce housing units are either under development or
constructed
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Palm Beach County Housing
Regulatory Initiatives
• Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program
• Allows additional development rights to be purchased from one property and transferred to
another property, and a portion of the TDRs must also be provided as workforce units.
• Dual or “underlying” land use designations for non-residential parcels
• Almost every commercial property has an underlying residential designation allowing the
property to be used for either the commercial and/or residential use without going through a land
use change process with the County to expedite the development.
• In the certain areas around Lake Okeechobee, agricultural lands were designated
with high density land use designations
• Potential to accommodate nearly 90,000 new housing units
10Current Palm Beach County
Housing Initiatives
• In 2022, DHED awarded $31.6M to assist 1,644 total units with 1,068 of those
units being County assisted through programs including:
▪ Purchase Assistance
▪ Foreclosure Prevention
▪ Emergency Repair
▪ Housing Rehabilitation
▪ Notice of Funding Availability & Requests for Proposals to developers for new
units
• A Housing & Transportation Summit was held (June 2022)
• $200M Housing Bond referendum – November 2022 Ballot
• Countywide Housing Dashboard initial launch – January 2023 11$200M Housing Bond Referendum
• Approved by voters November 8, 2022
• Accompanying Resolution 2022-0626 provided for:
▪ Workforce & affordable housing units will consist of the acquisition,
construction & equipping of the following:
• Condominiums
• Multi-family rental units
• Single-family homes
• Townhomes
▪ Allocation Process:
• Requests for Proposals for developers
• Bonds will fund loans for permanent financing for multi-family rental units & loans for
construction financing for homeownership/for-sale units
• Awards subject to be reclaimed if the project has not yet begun construction within one
year
• All awards must be approved by the Board of County Commissioners
12Palm Beach
County
Affordable
Housing Needs
Assessment
13PALM BEACH
COUNTY
HOUSING
PLAN
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14Palm Beach County Housing Options for
Teachers & District Staff
• GOAL - The partnership between the Housing Leadership Council and the School District was forged to identify
strategies for increasing employee access to housing options that are affordable, sustainable and
appropriately located.
• RESEARCH - The Housing Leadership Council did extensive research into housing options for school district staff
across the nation with a focus on communities with similar characteristics.
• SURVEY- Following research, a survey was developed to gain insight and into housing needs and give voice to
employees for ideas towards improving access and affordability. The survey had 20 questions with 18 multiple
choice and two open ended questions and was designed to be completed in under 10 minutes. At the end of
the survey participants were able to make comments and indicate if they wanted to participate in focus
groups and individual interviews.
• RESPONSE - The survey was open from April 2019 until August 2019 and was emailed several times to the entire
staff. A total of 1,615 employees completed the study with 1,454 responses (90%) coming from teachers. There
were focus groups and 42 interviews completed. The results were completed by mid December of 2019. One
brief presentation was given in January of 2020 but further work on this initiative was put on hold due to the
pandemic and the multiple challenges it presented for the School District and the Housing Leadership Council.
15Findings
• Teachers found it difficult to find the optimal housing situation especially if they only have one
income. About 80% were somewhat or very concerned about their ability to continue working
for the school district due to their housing situation.
• Desired living situations varied widely in terms of location, type of housing, commute and
setting. But over 65% desired homeownership. Younger employees with less tenure were more
likely to be open to living in “teacher housing” while older employees with more tenure did not
prefer this situation.
• Most teachers expressed how much they enjoyed their jobs and knew the salary level when
they chose the profession but did not realize how unaffordable housing would be.
• Some teachers had given up coaching and other extracurricular activities after moving to
more affordable areas such as Port St. Lucie.
• Most employees (75%) had not heard of commonly available housing resources in the
community such as subsidy programs, housing counseling and workforce housing programs.
The only exception was Habitat for Humanity where 64% had heard of the program.
The survey was conducted from April to August of 2019. The report, findings and comments are
available in the full 32-page report. 16Strategies for Addressing the Housing Issue
• Information Campaign - Determine the best way to disseminate information about existing programs.
This could be a website but it would need to be maintained and updated. Although personal contact is
the preferred method, it may not be the most practical with the large number of employees. Social
media was strongly preferred over email communication. (Moderate Impact/Low Cost)
• Housing Resource Specialist - Situations were often so unique that the best information could be
provided by a housing specialist who could make individualized recommendations based on the
employee’s situation and goals. (High Impact/Moderate Cost)
• Subsidy Programs - Other locations in the country have offered subsidy for homeownership (E.g.,
$10,000 loan, forgivable after a set period such as $1,000 for every year employed with the district).
Homeownership programs are more likely to result in long term stability in the position. (High
Impact/High Cost)
• Construction of Housing - There are examples of districts that have constructed units on
owned/purchased land. This has a long lead time and cannot serve large numbers of employees. (Low
Impact/High Cost)
Other ideas are listed in our Housing Options for School District Employees Recommendations Summary 17
document.SCHOOL BOARD EFFORTS TO FACILITATE AFFORDABLE HOUSING • Partnered with Housing Leadership Council of Palm Beach County in the 2019 Employee Housing Surveys • Dreyfoos TDRS - School Board’s request for 25% of Housing units to be Workforce or Affordable • Donation of “Old Gove” property to Belle Glade for an Affordable Housing project • In the process of releasing a reverter on school property swapped with Riviera Beach to enable an Affordable Housing project • District’s Chief of Staff Serves on the Boards of Housing Leadership Council of PBC and Commission on Affordable Housing High-performing A-rated District 1818
SCHOOL BOARD EFFORTS TO FACILITATE AFFORDABLE HOUSING, Continued Next steps recommended by District Leadership: • Approve use of Investment Earnings on School Impact Fees to add funding to the County’s Impact Fee Affordable Housing Assistance Program ( IFAHAP) • Through Strategic Plan Initiative D1a - “Create employee-designed approaches to improve job satisfaction, loyalty, and retention,” we will work with County and Housing Leadership Council to make housing information and resources readily available to District employees. High-performing A-rated District 19
DISCUSSION High-performing A-rated District 20
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