Hours After Auctioning Homes for Outstanding Tax Bills, Elorza Announces “Anti-Displacing” Program
GoLocalProv News Team
Hours After Auctioning Homes for Outstanding Tax Bills, Elorza Announces “Anti-Displacing” Program
Elorza had moved forward with the auction of homes and commercial buildings during the pandemic despite the pleas of members of the City Council.
“Now more then ever, housing is foundational to the quality of life for our residents,” said Elorza. “Together with our community, we are laying the groundwork for a comprehensive system of investments that ensure that City resources are used to promote housing quality, development, and affordability for all residents.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTNew Taxes to Fund Program
The Elorza proposal includes new taxes to fund the program -- creating a new fee on commercial development and an increase in the property tax that would be dedicated to housing. In addition, the Elorza plan would divert tax stabilization revenues to this new initiative.
Elorza said that his administration had contracted with an Alexandria, Virginia-based firm RKG Associates. According to city records, RKG’s bid to develop the “Anti-Displacing” strategy was $144,500 — and the company was not the lowest bidder.
“The City of Providence is committed to preserving and promoting safe, affordable housing for Providence residents,” said Kyle Talente Vice President and Principal for RKG Associates. “The Comprehensive Housing Strategy process was designed to bring together the City’s existing efforts with those of its implementation partners, identify the potential for better collaboration and/or consolidation, and determine any opportunities to enhance these efforts.”
Elorza’s office did not respond to questions asking how the Mayor balanced auctioning off homes during a pandemic and recession and his new strategy.
Katherine Hypolite, who announced Elorza’s new strategy, did not respond to requests for comment.
City's New Housing Goals
According to Elorza’s office, the key goals outlined in the preliminary recommendations include:
- Providing rental and ownership housing choice opportunities for Providence residents of all incomes throughout the City
- Ensuring new residential development complements Providence’s diverse neighborhoods
- Encouraging price diversity in all new housing development
- Expanding homeownership opportunities for Providence residents
- Investing in Providence’s historic housing stock to promote healthy living conditions
“These goals reflect Providence’s diverse housing ecosystem and the varying needs of renters, homeowners, landlords, developers and community providers. Key challenges—including an aging housing stock, lack of neighborhood choice, insufficient housing type diversity, and households experiencing significant housing cost burden—are also outlined in the preliminary findings," said the city in its release.
"While about 15% of Providence’s housing stock qualifies as low- and moderate-income housing, 57% of renters in Providence are cost-burdened, spending more than 30% of income on housing costs."