The Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund Campaign

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The Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund Campaign
Sue Sierra Policy Coordinator Philadelphia
Association of Community Development Corporations
(PACDC)
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About PACDC
PACDC is dedicated to advocacy, policy
development and technical assistance for CDCs and
other organizations in their efforts to rebuild
communities and revitalize neighborhoods

• Umbrella organization for Community Development
  Corporations in Philadelphia
• 75 members (45 CDCs)
• 13 years old
• Track record of advocacy success
• Had recently expanded policy staff

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What is a Housing Trust Fund?

• Dedicated, permanent source of revenue for
  housing
• More than 350 around country
• HTFs in 50 PA counties (not Phila.) have raised a
  total of 125M for housing
• After a two-year effort, this year there will be
  a 15M per year Housing Trust Fund in
  Philadelphia!

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What weve won

• Dedicated local revenue source for housing
  (estimated to raise 15M/year)
• Majority must support housing production
• Other eligible uses are home repair, homelessness
  prevention, adaptive modification
• Deep and flexible income targeting half must go
  below 30 AMI (about 20K), other half can go up
  to 115 AMI
• Oversight Board with 50 advocate representation

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Why the ?

• City Council passed legislation 17-0 in June with
  Administration support
• State House passed enabling legislation
• State Senate has not yet passed enabling
  legislation

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How we did it

• 2-year effort
• Brought together entire housing advocacy sector
  of Philadelphia strong, broad, diverse
  coalition
• Solid research
• Tactics Mobilization organizing, media
  outreach, educating elected officials

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Philadelphias housing crisis

• 60,000 more affordable apartments needed
• Philadelphia leads nation in abandonment
• Property values extremely low in many communities
• Old housing stock repair and accessibility
  issues
• At same time, hot housing market in some
  neighborhoods gentrification (real feared)
• Little money!
• Production crashed in past decade
• Phila.s federal housing shrinking
• Big anti-blight program with almost no production
  

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Spring 03

• City primary
• Invest in Neighborhoods policy agenda first
  proposal for Trust Fund
• Made contact with Mary Brooks, Center for
  Community Change
• PACDC Board commits resources (mostly staff time)
  to campaign for HTF
• First look at potential funding sources Act
  137

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Act 137

• State law allows surcharges on document recording
  fees for affordable housing
• Passed in 1992
• 50/67 counties participate
• Phila. not eligible
• In Phila., would raise 10-15 million/year
• More as real estate market is more active

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Policy Changes Needed

• Local legislation creating HTF
• Mayoral support, including Executive Order to
  implement details
• State enabling legislation, amending Act 137 to
  include Philadelphia
• Most important political will

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Summer 03

• Research white paper on Trust Fund
• Initial power analysis
• Need for grassroots support
• Focus on City first
• Convene HTF workgroups
• Program
• Administration
• Funding
• Used this to start outreach to other
  organizations (eg ACORN, EPOP)
• Set up meeting with Mayor met with challenger

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Fall 03

• Built endorser list (67 endorsers)
• Press conference w/Council supporters to release
  white paper. Proposed 20 million fund with 3
  recommended sources
• Meeting with Mayor support in principle
• Meetings with key Councilmembers
• IDd eventual bill sponsors
• Daily News editorial board meeting
• 800 people at housing candidates forum HTF on
  agenda
• Election Mayor re-elected

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Winter 03-04

• Negotiations with Phila. Affordable Housing
  Coalition
• Frustrating and time-consuming but necessary
• Income targeting and disability issues were
  toughest
• Deeper income targeting good compromise on
  visitability
• Continued outreach to elected officials other
  constituencies (labor, market-rate developers)
• Mayors transition team recommends Trust Fund
• 150 people at Mayoral budget address to support
  HTF, other housing issues
• Form HTF Campaign Steering Committee

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Compromise in action

• PACDC white paper
• Housing production 75
• Rental for households below 30 AMI 20
• Rental, HO between 30-50 30
• HO up to 115 25
• Housing preservation 25

• Trust Fund Campaign proposal
• Production 65
• Preservation 30
• Homeless prevention 5
• 50 spent below 30 AMI
• 50 for 30-115 AMI
• Access/visitability mandates

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Spring 04

• More meetings with Councilmembers
• Strong testimony in support of HTF at City
  housing hearings
• Fax/letter campaign to Council
• Economic impact study 20M fund 116M in
  economic impact on city, 193M for region, 230M
  for state
• Marker legislation introduced Admin opposed to
  implementation but agrees to dedicate 1.5
  million as seed money

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Summer 04

• Negotiations with Administration
• Strengthened coalition BIA, clergy groups
• Media/communications
• Editorial board meetings led to Inquirer
  editorial in August
• Outreach to state legislators and statewide
  organizations

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Fall 04

• Negotiations continued
• Presence at Council meetings
• Communications web site, buttons, revamped
  literature
• Brought in faith community as advocates

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December Administration agrees!

• Coalition proposal
• 20M/year
• 5 of 9 seats on oversight board are advocates
• Extremely detailed in use of funds
• Income targeting
• Strong accessibility/ visitability provisions
• No funding for administrative costs

• Agreement with Administration
• 15M/year commitment for funding study
• Advocates 4 of 8 seats
• Majority of funds must go to production other
  uses less detailed
• Income targeting, disability provisions as
  proposed
• Up to 15 can be used for admin

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January/February 05

• Press conference to announce Admin support
• Administration, City Council members, state
  legislators there
• 200 advocates pack the room
• Great press coverage including editorials in both
  daily papers
• Local and state legislation introduced
• Outreach to Realtors based on concerns in
  newspaper article

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March-May 05

• Meetings and calls with Councilmembers
• Letters/phone calls focused on key targets
• State advocacy
• More meetings
• Use Housing Alliance of PA to reach out to
  particular legislators
• Press conference with builders, PNC Bank,
  legislators

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June 05

• City Council hearing on Trust Fund
• Strong mix of testimony
• Good turnout
• Great visuals
• State House passes enabling legislation 152-42
• City Council passes ordinance 17-0

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Whats left?

• State Senate still needs to act

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Trust Fund program

• At least 50 of Trust Fund program funds must
  support production
• Other uses
• Housing preservation, including geographically
  targeted programs
• Homelessness prevention grants
• Adaptive modification

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Income targeting

• 50 must benefit households below 30 AMI (20K)
• 50 must benefit households between 30 and 115
  AMI (up to 79K)
• More for extremely low income families and
  more flexible to support CDC
  revitalization/mixed-income/anti-gentrification
  efforts

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Accessibility features

• Phila. housing stock extremely inaccessible 64
  of city is rowhouses
• Accessibility
• 10 of new construction housing must be
  wheelchair accessible
• Now overall City policy when first proposed was
  more generous
• Visitability
• Universal design movement to ensure wheelchair
  users can visit housing
• Subject to waivers, all HTF-funded new
  construction housing must be visitable
• Cost capped at 3,000/unit
• Waiver for unsuitable site conditions (e.g. hilly
  area, infill housing on narrow lots)

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Control and oversight

• Funds distributed to non-profits through existing
  processes
• Oversight board for accountability
• Advocates and City staff represented
• Trust Fund Campaign gets to submit a list of
  candidates to the Mayor to fill half the board
• Would set broad guidelines but existing City
  staff would make most decisions

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Housing production

• Increase City housing production by 60 275
  homes/year
• Affordable rental
• Mixed-income homeownership
• New construction
• Rehabilitated housing
• Leverage about 35 million per year
• LIHTC, Home Choice, FHLB, foundations, sales and
  rental , ..

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Home repair and housing preservation

• Repair more than 900 homes/year
• Geographically targeted and city wide programs
• Facades, basic systems, Adaptive Modification

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Homelessness prevention

• Grants for back rent, utilities, mortgage, etc.,
  to stop eviction
• Average about 700 to prevent family from
  becoming homeless
• More than 1,000 grants/year

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Lessons from the Philadelphia campaign

• Power analysis very early on
• In our case
• CDCs alone couldnt do it needed grassroots
  organizing power, in particular
• Our coalition could triumph even with some
  opposition
• BUT housing advocates needed to be 100 united

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Lessons, part 2

• Talk to Mary Brooks!

Center for Community Change Housing Trust Fund
Project 1113 Cougar CourtFrazier Park, CA
93225 661-245-0318 mbrooks_at_communitychange.org
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Lessons, part 3

• Plan for a long-term campaign
• ID staffing, funding, lead organization(s)
• Mary told us 3 years did it in 2

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Lessons, part 4

• Build coalitions early
• The single most important factor in our success
• Formal endorsement process worked well for us
• Reach out broadly and build consensus but do it
  in the right order
• Invite participation in Trust Fund design but
  dont get too bogged down in the details
• Show broad support publicly and consistently
• Will probably need unified housing sector to win

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110 organizations in Trust Fund coalition

• CDCs
• Homeless advocates
• Grassroots groups
• Disability community
• Banks
• For-profit builders
• Senior citizen groups
• Social service providers
• Labor religious representation
• Statewide groups (eg Housing Alliance of PA)

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Lessons, part 5

• Be willing to negotiate
• Cant bring people in if you dont respond to
  their concerns
• Use power analysis and figure out who you need to
  have to win
• Think like an organizer!!
• Think like an organizer!!
• Think like an organizer!!

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CDCs

• Know neighborhood needs
• Experts in making affordable housing happen
• Can explain community benefit
• Spread throughout Philadelphia needed with
  elected officials

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Grassroots housing advocates

• Potential for people power
• Able to move elected officials
• Cultural differences between organizations
• Difficult negotiations/hard choices
• Could not have had large events or generated lots
  of calls without them

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• Sue Sierra
• Policy Coordinator
• Philadelphia Association of CDCs
• ssierra_at_pacdc.org
• [phone]
• www.pacdc.org/TrustFund