Local support for worker housing bill lacking
Apartment buildings under construction on the south side of Hayden Avenue west of Ramsey Road are pictured here near completion in this Press file photo taken in March 2022.
DEVIN WEEKS/Press file
It could take up to 24 months for local worker housing units to be ready to welcome their first tenants.
That would be in 2024.
North Idaho's workforce housing crisis is happening right now.
"Why push this deadline so tight?" Panhandle Affordable Housing Alliance executive director Maggie Lyons asked on Thursday. "It doesn’t make any sense."
Lyons is disappointed that nearly every North Idaho legislator voted against House Bill 701, the "Idaho Workforce Housing Fund" bill, which would use $50 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to help create housing that is affordable for workers across Idaho.
As housing prices have spiked, the middle class has been left in the dust. The “typical” home in Kootenai County is now priced at more than $500,000, requiring an annual salary of at least $100,000 to purchase.
"Affordable housing" refers to homes in the $200,000 to $350,000 range. In 2021, Kootenai County’s median income was $65,500. Those in the median income range have been priced out of the very communities in which they work.
HB701 could help middle-class families by providing the gap financing necessary to cover those costs that are just out of their reach and give builders the funding they need to get projects off the ground, Lyons said.
Lyons sent an email to Coeur d'Alene Reps. Jim Addis and Paul Amador as well as Sen. Mary Souza, R-Coeur d'Alene. Addis was among the North Idaho representatives who voted "no" on HB701 while Amador voted "yes."
In her email, Lyons urged lawmakers to approve the bill.
"Allocating ARPA funds for worker housing will help meet critical housing needs across the state and specifically, here in Kootenai County," she wrote.
She provided reasons why they should support this legislation:
"1. ARPA dollars are already allocated by the federal government. The funds will go to another state if Idaho does not take the funds.
"2. These ARPA dollars will directly benefit residents of Kootenai County (your constituents) by providing housing our workers can afford which is in the $200k-$350k price range. (Idaho Housing and Finance Association) has data showing that Kootenai County, as a percentage of population, has been allocated a greater share of Tax Credit and (Housing and Urban Development) Housing dollars compared to other counties in the state."
She wrote that "in good conscience, we cannot send these funds to other states."
"We have a responsibility, whether we agree or not with the federal government’s spending on ARPA, to work toward the best possible outcome for Idaho and for Kootenai County," she wrote.
Addis responded that he is "certainly not against workforce housing."
"I do think we should follow the process laid out previously vis-à-vis local and state ARPA dollars," Addis wrote. "I agree that it does no good to try and send these dollars back."
Lyons responded that there is no assurance that the county's ARPA funds ($32 million) will go to housing and that local requests (more than $90 million) far exceed Kootenai County’s available ARPA dollars.
"Housing is not on the front burner," Lyons wrote. "Time is of the essence to bring housing solutions to fruition."
Building housing in the $200,000-$350,000 price range has a lead time, Lyons said.
"Once land has been identified, it will be 12-24 months for these housing units to be available. We are facing a housing crisis for our workers now," she said. "Waiting another year to request ARPA funding from the state significantly delays responding to our critical need for worker housing."
The Senate vote on the bill was not announced by press time Thursday.