While some communities, like Brighton, have a variety of housing options, our County has a legacy of racially discriminatory housing practices. Current housing development policy prioritizes luxury over affordability, is fiscally short-sighted for the County, and is bad for homeowners. Reforming our approach to housing will improve people’s lives and strengthen our local economy.
Stop Selling Tax Liens to Third Party Vendors. If a homeowner falls behind in paying their taxes, a lien is placed on their property. The County has a history of selling these tax liens to third parties, which often increase costs to homeowners. These increased costs not only have led people to lose their homes, but also have led to a loss of revenue for the County. The County has basically traded minor short-term revenue increases over local homeowners and long-term revenue. We should eliminate this practice, finding an affordable, flexible path for homeowners to keep their investments and return the money to the County over the long-term.
Realign Development Incentives with Housing Goals based in Equity: The County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency (COMIDA) should stop giving tax breaks to developers of luxury housing. Instead, policy should incentivize the creation of mixed-income housing which includes options for people living at 0-30% of the annual median income for the community in which the housing is being built. Affordability needs to be redefined to reflect the income of the specific locality rather than the county median income.