CITY of ALBUQUERQUE
TWENTY FIFTH COUNCIL
COUNCIL BILL NO. M-22-7 ENACTMENT NO. ________________________
SPONSORED BY: Isaac Benton, Pat Davis, Tammy Fiebelkorn
MEMORIAL
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The City Of Albuquerque City Council Urges The First Session Of The 56th Legislature To Adopt Legislation Providing For The Creation Of Regional Housing Authority That Are Independent Government Units (Benton, Davis, Fiebelkorn)
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WHEREAS, New Mexico, as is the United States as a whole, is facing a housing crisis. In 2021 half of Americans Surveyed said housing was a major problem as the national median price for a home has surged over 25% in the past few years, the national vacancy rate for apartments has fallen below six percent and rents have risen over 18% nationwide; and
WHEREAS, a variety of factors have set the stage for the financial challenges American homeowners and renters have been facing in the housing market, including incomes that have not kept pace with housing cost increases <https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FIXHAI>, supply chain and construction labor shortages that have increased the cost of materials and labor, the recent increases in interest rates, and the entrance into the market of several million Americans reaching the age when people form households; and
WHEREAS, in 2020, a third of American households were headed by renters and 46% of renters spent 30% or more of their income on housing, including 23% who spend at least 50% of their income. The high rate of overall income expended on housing by renters is of particular concern as the demographic of renters tends to skew towards lower-income households which are facing affordability issues with other major life-sustaining needs including food, clothing, and medical care; and
WHEREAS, a 2022 report by the New Mexico Housing Authority found that the State was short 32,000 housing units that are affordable to the poorest New Mexicans who make less than 30% of area median household income; and
WHEREAS, Statewide apartment vacancy rates are at 5.5%. Over 218,000 households are considered cost burdened and over 100,000 households are severely cost-burdened and spend more than half their household income on housing; and
WHEREAS, on any given day 3,300 New Mexicans are homeless according to the US Interagency Council on Homelessness and over 11,000 public school students were homeless over the course of a year; and
WHEREAS, local and state governments have initiated numerous programs to alleviate housing including issuing rental vouchers, providing grants to repair low-income households, providing tax credits and the workforce housing trust fund, helping fund mixed market rate and below market rate housing projects, and constructing and improving public housing; and
WHEREAS, these initiatives are expensive and complex to manage, requiring significant resources from the agencies that operate these programs; and
WHEREAS, for non-profit and affordable housing providers, it can be complex, time-consuming, and expensive to access the myriad of programs that assist providers of affordable housing. Landlords that accept housing vouchers must follow differing billing and compliance rules, depending on which agency is overseeing the voucher. Housing developers must proceed through a complex, expensive, and time-consuming application and approval process from each agency that provides a development subsidy which increases the cost of their projects; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico is but one of a few states that has yet to create regional housing authorities that can consolidate housing services for renters, homeowners, and developers, and issue debt to provide the levels of funding required to address housing needs; and
WHEREAS, the creation of strong independent housing authorities overseen by the elected officials of participating jurisdictions would benefit the people of New Mexico and further the ability of the commonwealth to properly house all New Mexicans; and
BE IT MEMORIALIZED BY THE COUNCIL, THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE:
SECTION 1. The State Legislature is urged to update New Mexico’s laws relating to affordable housing to expand the powers of existing regional housing authorities or create new housing authorities to consolidate the provision of affordable housing services to renters, homeowners, non-profits, and developers of affordable housing; and to raise revenue and incur debt in order to expand the funding streams required to provide adequate housing for the low and moderate-income households within its jurisdiction.
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