Fund may bring affordable housing dollars to Beaufort, Jasper counties. Here’s the plan
A regional board working to increase affordable housing in the Lowcountry said this week that local governments have provided enough money for the first step in preserving and building housing for the workforce in Beaufort and Jasper counties: a study to figure out a sustainable revenue source.
The Southern Lowcountry Regional Board plans to pay no more than $130,000 for the consultant to conduct the study, said Eric Greenway, Beaufort County’s community development director. Each jurisdiction represented on the board will pay a percentage of the cost based on a population formula, Greenway said.
The board, which comprises representatives of Beaufort and Jasper counties and their cities and towns, works to solve issues across the region such as zoning, housing, employment, quality of life and social issues.
On Tuesday, Greenway, who oversees the Regional Housing Trust Fund subcommittee, said the subcommittee will interview two firms Aug. 10 for the consulting contract.
The full board will vote on the subcommittee’s recommendation Aug. 25.
Greenway said in Tuesday’s board meeting that a steering committee — consisting of representatives from each municipality in the region — would work with the consultant to draft a plan for a housing trust fund and then submit it to the full board. He said the process should be “well under way” by October.
“Along with that would come recommendations about how the funding formulas would work for seating the regional housing trust fund initially, and then what projects the regional housing trust fund would be involved with as far as allocating funding and resources to certain projects,” he said.
Afterwards, he said, subcommittee members would ask their individual jurisdiction’s councils to buy into the housing trust fund framework. What each municipality will have to contribute to the trust fund will be determined by the consultant and steering committee.
Hardeeville Mayor Harry Williams, who chairs the board, said he is excited about the opportunity because it expands the options for affordable housing paid for by counties to include private donations and grants.
“We all have recognized for quite some time that there is a housing shortage that can’t be attained by police, fire, nurses, plumbers — all the various workforce that we have,” Williams said.
To Williams, the regional aspect of the trust fund is crucial. He said that while the board actually consists of representatives from South of the Broad and Jasper County, Yemassee, Beaufort and Port Royal were so enticed by the benefits of the planned trust fund, they wanted to join.
“People travel to work from Hardeeville to Hilton Head, Bluffton to Beaufort, Beaufort to Hardeeville,” he said. “There’s no boundaries when it comes to the need for workforce housing.”
