Trouble finding affordable housing? Beaufort County pledged $3.4 million to help
The idea for a trust fund to address affordable housing was suggested three years ago. Now, after years of meetings, studies and recommendations, Beaufort County has pledged $3.4 million over a 10-year period to make it a reality.
In the past nine months, the following municipalities approved resolutions establishing the Beaufort-Jasper Regional Housing Trust Fund:
- Beaufort County
- Jasper County
- Town of Hilton Head Island
- Town of Bluffton
- Town of Port Royal
- City of Hardeeville
- City of Beaufort
- Town of Yemassee
Following the money
The fund mainly will be used to build new housing, rehabilitate existing affordable housing, and acquire housing with expiring subsidies to keep rates the same. The funds will be given to developers, not individuals.
“In order for those developers to access those funds, they will have to commit to providing affordable housing through covenants and restrictions,” Beaufort County administrator Eric Greenway said, “and keep those rents and house payments at that level.”
When developers get financial assistance building homes, they don’t need to sell or rent them for as much to make a profit.
The housing will be for residents around or below the municipalities’ median incomes with a focus on households at or below 60% average median income in either county or a household income below $49,000 per year.
“The type of housing we’re talking about is workforce, affordable housing, not government-subsidized housing,” Greenway said. “What we’re looking at doing is to provide affordable housing options for folks that work in some key areas of our economy that provide services to the citizens so that they can also live in the area where they work.”
The fund proposal identified the four industries that employ the majority of people in the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Beaufort region as:
- Food preparation and serving-related occupations
- Sales and related occupations
- Office and administrative support occupations
- Transportation and material moving occupations
Beaufort County administrators created the affordable housing qualifications based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics that estimated about 50% of these workers couldn’t afford the median gross rent for Beaufort and Jasper counties.
“I think our communities are better when [workers] are able to live in the communities in which they serve,” Beaufort Mayor Stephen Murray said. “Right now they’re being priced out of their home and have to live in the outskirts and drive in.”
Processing applications
All applications for fund money will be processed through Community Works, a nonprofit community development financial institution based in Greenville. Community Works was hired by the trust for administration and management support.
The nonprofit will work with the fund’s advisory board, composed of a representative from each of the participating municipalities, to determine which projects receive funding.
“Funding directly from the trust fund would most likely be available in the beginning of 2023 since all jurisdictions are finalizing their agreements and appointments to the new advisory board,” regional program director Brad Mole said.
Then, the contractors have to build.
“I think the best case scenario is probably about a year,” Murray said when asked about when residents can access housing, “[from] what I know about going through the development process, getting your permit approvals, securing your contractors, putting a shovel in the ground building the property.”
Where is the funding from?
In the first year, municipalities will contribute 3% of their American Rescue Plan funding, according to the fund’s proposal. This is a total of about $2 million, and over $1.1 million for Beaufort County.
For each following years of the 10-year term, members will contribute based on their population and are given flexibility to choose where the money is from. Options include short-term rental fees, hotel taxes, local option sales and deed recording fees.
Over the 10-year period, Beaufort County will contribute more than $3.4 million, the most out of all the municipalities.
How much money the county is contributing compared to others won’t impact how the fund is allocated, according to Greenway.
Leaders in the Hilton Head community, which will contribute the second most amount of money to the fund, expressed previous concerns about money going toward projects not directly in that community.
However, benefits go beyond directly providing housing, according to Greenway.
“Even if an affordable housing project gets funded in one area, that does not mean that it will not benefit the larger group as a whole,” Greenway said. “Those folks are living in that house and have the option of driving and working in any other jurisdiction in the regional housing area.”
Murray warns that there is still work to be done to create affordable housing in Beaufort.
“The housing trust is not a silver bullet,” he said. “We have to continue looking at other tools between regulatory reform zoning, creative partnerships, if we’re really going to have a meaningful effect on housing long term.”
This story was originally published October 17, 2022 at 11:12 AM.
